2015: How we persuaded Jonathan to concede defeat – Gen. Abdulsalami

Abdulsalami noted that the genesis of Africa’s political problems was “the action of its sit-tight leaders, who amend the constitution to perpetuate themselves

Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Former military head of state, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (retd), has revealed the process that led to former President Goodluck Jonathan to concede defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari after the result of the 2015 Presidential election.
Abdulsalami, who made the disclosure at the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), noted that the genesis of Africa’s political problems was “the action of its sit-tight leaders, who amend the constitution in order to perpetuate themselves.
“These leaders have the tendency to manipulate very vital democratic organs, particularly the legislature and, sometimes, the judiciary, to suppress any dissenting voice.
“Despite all these, Africa is now harvesting an influx of leaders and politicians. The young people who are emerging are more educated and internationally exposed than the current old leaders we have all over Africa. And these young men and women are trying to make their marks. However, as you know, they are hampered by the high cost of electioneering in developing countries and, indeed, the world,” he said. Abubakar, who delivered a keynote address on “Political transitions in Africa: Lessons to learn” gave credit to former President Jonathan for not only conceding defeat, but for congratulating President Buhari who was a candidate of the opposition party.

He said: “All analyses of political trend in the run up to Nigeria’s 2015 general elections pointed to above scenario playing out. Very early on, I teamed up with some well-meaning non-partisan stakeholders and elder statesmen to engage the key contestants and party leaders with a view to forestalling such a scenario.
“Under the auspices of a peace initiative, we brokered an agreement with leading contestants, in form of a Memorandum of Understanding, for them to accept the outcome of the elections, preach cordiality in relations and conduct peaceful campaigns.

“It is gratifying to note that, courtesy of our humble effort and the goodwill extended to it by the contestants and the Nigerian public, the 2015 national elections were conducted peacefully.
“To his eternal credit, the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who lost the polls had the magnanimity to concede defeat and congratulate the candidate of the opposition party. In the end, peace, amity and political stability prevailed in the land.”
The retired army General further disclosed the process that led to the transfer of power to a democratically elected leader in 1999.
He said when he was appointed to lead the country in 1998, there was political apathy and that the political class was already fatigued, with some voices calling for a return of the country to parliamentary system.
Also, speaking at the conference, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, said while strong leaders and institutions are important for political transition, emphasis should not be placed on the strength of the leader at the detriment of the leader’s competence and disposition.

“To my mind, we need strong institutions and strong leadership; but, it is not just the strength of the leader that we require. What we require most is the competence and the capacity of the leader to take decisions and to be assertive in ensuring that those decisions are actually implemented.
“So, we have to be very careful in thinking that strong leaders can really help. Just as a weak leader can wreak an institution, a strong leader who has just the power and courage, but lacks capacity, ability and competence to lead, could also wreak strong institutions. So, it is very important that we recognise this important aspect of the leadership that we require,” he said.

Culled from The Sun

Needs a new wife, fasts once a week, Nigeria is tough… 7 things Dangote revealed in FT interview-Mayowa Tijani

Aliko Dangote has revealed that at 61, he is not getting any younger, and he is willing to take on a new wife.
Speaking with David Piling in a Financial Times interview, Lunch with FT, the multi-billionaire, who is Africa’s richest man, revealed a soft side of himself and talked tall about his ambitions to buy Arsenal Football club after successfully leading Nigeria’s oil refining revolution.

DANGOTE REALLY NEEDS A NEW WIFE

Dangote revealed that his schedule is inhibiting romance. The founder of Dangote Group, who is twice divorced and has three grown-up daughters, told FT that he is on the lookout for a new bride.
He however adds a caveat: “I’m not getting younger. Sixty years is no joke. But it doesn’t make sense to go out and get somebody if you don’t have the time. Right now, things are really, really very busy, because we have the refinery, we have the petrochemicals, we have the fertiliser, we have the gas pipeline.”
But he agrees that he needs to “calm down a bit”.

FASTS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK

Who will believe that the man who has one of the biggest food chains in the country, actually fasts at least once a week? Dangote told Pilling that he tries to fast at least once a week, adding that “it helps to clean your system”.

TAKES MORE THAN 100 CALLS A DAY

As expected, Dangote has a very busy schedule, but who would have guessed that he may also be one of Africa’s busiest, taking over 100 calls per day.
Speaking of his relationship with Tony Blair, former British prime minister, Dangote says Blair only makes three calls per day. But he has to battle with scores, and tonnes of emails.
About his mails, he says: “you try to be polite and reply but they come back to you with a longer email, not minding that here is a very, very busy person”.
“Look Aliko, the world is not going to fall apart if you don’t answer your phone,” Dangote says of his golden advise from Blair.

NIGERIA TO BE THE LARGEST EXPORTER OF PETROLEUM PRODUCT

The serial-entrepreneur says once his $12 billion refinery is done, Nigeria will for the first time in her history, become Africa’s biggest exporter of petroleum products.
“When we finish this project, for the first time in history Nigeria will be the largest exporter of petroleum products in Africa,” he said.

NIGERIA IS TOUGH; ONLY THE TOUGHEST SURVIVE

The man with the most amount of the money in Nigeria — officially — says only toughest of the tough survives in Africa’s largest economy.
Dangote say with his new refinery, he is out to make new enemies, stating that “you can’t just come and remove food from their table and think they’re just going to watch you doing it”.
“They will try all sorts of tricks. This is a very, very tough society. Only the toughest of the tough survive here”.

NIGERIA NEEDS DRACONIAN POLICY TO STOP MILK IMPORTATION

The Kano-born billionaire is not happy with Nigeria’s inability to produce what she eats, locally, and wants some hard policies to stop importation of some products.
“What Nigeria needs is to produce locally what we can produce locally. Nigeria still imports vegetable oil, which makes no sense. Nigeria still imports 4.9m tonnes of wheat, which does not make sense,” the $14-billion-man  said.
“Nigeria still imports 97 or 98 per cent of the milk that we consume. The government needs to bring out a draconian policy to stop people importing milk, just like they did with cement.”

STILL OUT TO BUY ARSENAL

Dangote is not a man known to give up on his dreams, and his dreams about Arsenal Football Club will not be different, he reveals.
“I love Arsenal and I will definitely go for it,” he told FT, adding that the club should be worth about $2bn.
Speaking as the owner of the club, Dangote said he would involve himself in rebuilding the team — “chipping in my own advice”.
“When I buy it, I have to bring it up to the expectations of our supporters,” he said, stating that his refinery is priority now. “Once I have finished with that headache, I will take on football,” he concludes.

Culled from Cable In Financial Times

‘An all-American city that speaks Spanish’: Immigration isn’t a problem for this Texas town — it’s a way of life

by Kevin Sullivan

American flags hang in a shop window in downtown McAllen, Texas on July 3. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

MCALLEN, Tex. — Maria’s Restaurant offers Pollo en Mole for $8.25 and patriotic red, white and blue peanut M&Ms for a quarter in a gumball machine near the front door.

The menu in this family restaurant, about seven miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is a reflection of the blended community it has served for 41 years. But now this town built on immigration has become ground zero for the nation’s nastiest political battle in the angry summer of 2018.

“This is a border culture, so these people are not monsters to us,” said Carolina Garza, 31, a third-generation Mexican-American whose family runs Maria’s.

She was talking about the masses of Central American immigrants flowing across the southern U.S. border by the thousands this summer seeking asylum, work and refuge from their violent homelands.

McAllen is home to the massive U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility where families crossing the border illegally have been separated and children have been housed under the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. The detention center for children is known as the “dog kennel” for its rooms made of chain-link fencing.

The separations of about 2,400 children from their parents have sparked protests across the country and news coverage around the world. McAllen has suddenly become world-famous for something that it has no control over, which residents say is at odds with the city’s bicultural nature.

Hundreds of activists, lawyers, protesters, religious leaders, journalists, a heavy presence of federal law enforcement officers and even National Guard troops have poured into this city and the rest of the Rio Grande Valley in recent weeks.

The policy is seen as unwanted and unfair in this border city of 142,000 whose population is 90 percent Hispanic and so fully bilingual that roadside anti-littering signs say “No dumping basura” (trash).

[DHS warns threats against staff are rising amid anger over Trump immigration policies]

“A lot of people want to blame McAllen for what’s happening,” Garza said. “It feels kind of disgusting, to be honest.”

As McAllen prepared for its massive annual Fourth of July parade and fireworks display of patriotism, this city found itself feeling like a punching bag in the furious national immigration debate.

Mayor Jim Darling, who keeps U.S., Mexican and Texas flags in his downtown office, said McAllen has suffered because of some of Trump’s statements and policies.

“I wrote the president, and I said, ‘We’re Americans, too, and some of the rhetoric hurts Americans,’ ” he said. “We’re an all-American city that speaks Spanish.”

Mayor Jim Darling talks about the photos in his office, of McAllen through the years. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Darling said that although McAllen is often portrayed as a “dusty border town,” it is a vibrant industrial hub closely linked to factories across the border in the much larger industrial city of Reynosa.

He said McAllen spends more than $1 million annually recruiting businesses in Japan, Korea and other countries, mainly to invest in factories in Mexico. Many of the engineers, executives and other managers who work in those factories live in McAllen.

He said McAllen has 18 million visitors a year, about 40 percent of whom come from Mexico. For decades, La Plaza Mall has been a destination for Mexican shoppers, who obtain a U.S. Border Crossing Card that allows them to cross into Texas as long as they stay within 25 miles of the border.

McAllen raises more sales tax per capita than almost any other Texas city — about $60 million last year, greater than its property tax revenue, Darling said. And nearly a fifth of that comes from La Plaza.

In recent years, that resource has been hurt by increasing violence in Mexico, the falling value of the Mexican peso, and Trump’s anti-Mexican rhetoric.

Trump so angered some Mexicans last year that they started an #AdiosMcAllen social media campaign urging Mexican shoppers to boycott McAllen. Darling traveled to Monterrey to reassure Mexicans that his city still welcomed them. He said the city spent about $300,000 on a marketing campaign called “Amigos Always” to counter the damage.

“My face is still on billboards in Monterrey,” he said.

Now the family separation issue is creating new image problems for McAllen. The city has been through similar strains in the past, including in 2014 when a flood of unaccompanied children from Central America ended up being processed in McAllen.

[I’m from the border. The news is getting it wrong.]

But this time is the most intense anyone can remember. The Rio Grande Valley is the U.S. Border Patrol’s busiest sector, accounting for 40 percent of the apprehensions of illegal border-crossers along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. Migrants use the valley as a gateway to cities across America, but few stay in McAllen.

“There’s some impression around the world that people are dying to come to McAllen, and that’s just not the case,” said Police Chief Victor Rodriguez. “It happens to be a crossing point, but the destinations are everywhere else in the country.”

Moses Cariaga, 9, left, watches with other participants as his mother, Audrey Cisneros, takes part in the Break Bread Not Families event, a 24-hour hunger strike and prayer chain in downtown McAllen, Tex., on Tuesday. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

He said crime in the city is at a 33-year low, and there have been no murders this year. He said drug-related violence has increased in parts of Mexico, adding that it has not affected McAllen.

But anger at Trump’s family separations was still raw in Archer Park, a grassy oasis in the middle of McAllen. At noon on Monday, in the shade of the gazebo where city workers were preparing for the July 4 celebration, a dozen people stood before a photo of Robert F. Kennedy and César Chávez. They were there as part of a fasting protest organized by Lupe, the civil rights group Chávez founded.

“We’re about to celebrate our day of independence and freedom, and we keep incarcerating young children and people who have only come here looking for work,” said Marco Antonio Lopez, 31, who began his 24-hour fast on Monday.

Lopez grew up here in the Rio Grande Valley, the son of immigrants, and became a citizen at 20. He said he’s never seen so much law enforcement in McAllen, and he said it feels alien and is upsetting to him.

“It’s really strange,” he said. “This is not who we are. We need people to wake up.”

[Fleeing domestic violence in El Salvador, mother’s asylum quest in U.S. is complex]

At Maria’s Restaurant, the breakfast crowd started rolling in when the doors opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Families with young children, older couples, and office workers in crisp dress shirts sat at tables surrounded by walls painted vibrant yellow, orange, blue and green.

Michael Mata, 44, and his wife, Adriana Mulato, 43, sat down to order breakfast in English and Spanish that blended as easily as scrambled eggs.

“I’d like one egg, over hard, sin tortillas,” said Mata, a police officer in nearby Pharr.

“Tienes bisquetes?” asked Mulato, a Mexico-born waitress who now lives with her husband in McAllen.

Michael Mata and Adriana Mulato eat breakfast at Maria's Restaurant in McAllen, Tex., on Tuesday. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Mata said his department trains officers in “customer service” and requires them to complete regular cultural diversity classes to keep their certification.

“I have no problem with people who are coming here for a better life,” Mata said. “Everybody had a right to peace of mind.”

He said he has breakfast almost every day with a friend, a retired doctor from Oklahoma, who is a big Trump supporter and wore his Make America Great Again hat to one of their meals last week.

“People have different views of this administration,” Mata said with a laugh. “But we treat everyone with respect.”

Across the dining room, a 76-year-old man sat reading a Spanish-language newspaper.

“There’s a general feeling of tension and apprehension here because of the threats and the policies coming from Trump,” the man said.

The man said he was a permanent legal resident and declined to give his name because he said he was afraid of repercussions from authorities. He said he had read stories about Border Patrol officers in other parts of the country questioning people simply because they were heard speaking Spanish.

“That has a chilling effect,” he said. “People are much more careful now.”

Washington post

Imo APC crisis: How we tamed Okorocha -Anumaka - Dickson Okafor

Chief Tobby Anumaka, Patron Okpoko Igbo, a Pan Igbo Socio-Cultural Organisation and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has explained how the coalition of major political actors in Imo APC against imposition of candidates ahead of 2019, tamed  the governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha.
He also dismissed speculation that the results of the party congresses in the state may be cancelled to accommodate Okorocha, insisting that the governor has no option but to heed President Muhammadu Buhari’s advice to put his house in order and forget the idea of his son in-law succeeding him in 2019.
Governor Rochas Okorocha said some of you ganged up against him in the just concluded APC congresses.  What would you say made many, including you, his friend turned against Okorocha?
We didn’t conspire against Governor Rochas Okorocha who was and still my friend during the recent congresses of my party, APC in Imo State. The governor is supposed to join hands with us to ensure APC retain Imo State in 2019, instead he chose to be an emperor and a stumbling block on the way of the party by trying to impose his will on the people. As stakeholders, we cannot fold our hands and watch Okorocha destroy our party because of his selfish interest. So, leaders of the party both at ward and state levels have clearly told the governor that he cannot impose his son in-law on the people as his successor.
You were an exponent of Okorocha up to few months ago, why the sudden change?
Governor Okorocha and I are still and will always be friends and only a true friend can tell his friend the truth. The way Okorocha is going about who succeeds him turned him against most of us his friends and other stakeholders in our party. I called and advised him to forget about plotting for his son in-law to succeed him and that he can’t impose somebody on the people of Imo with over five million people and that the governor cannot force his will on us. He didn’t listen to some of us who campaigned and ensured he won his second term to govern the state. To tell you how much I supported Okorocha’s administration, I used my personal money to construct projects and I told my people that it was done by Okorocha’s government. He refused to consult major stakeholders in the state especially members of our party on who succeeds him in 2019, rather he went about it as if he has pocketed the people and nobody would have the gut to ask him why.

But Okorocha in a recent statement vowed that the executive produced by the congresses will not lead APC in Imo and since there were parallel congresses of the party in the state, do you consider the governor’s statement as mere threat?
There is no parallel executive of APC in Imo State because the National Secretariat told us that any congress not supervised by representatives of the national body will not be recognised. So, we had a successful ward and state congresses.
Is there any plan to resolve the matter before the national Convention of your party slated for Jun 23?   
The governor remains the leader of the party in the state, but that doesn’t mean we won’t tell him the truth. We won’t allow him to continue to act like an emperor or maximum leader. There is a difference between leadership and rulership, so Okorocha is supposed to be a leader and not a ruler. We have known the governor as a leader but at a point in time he started acting like an emperor. You will agree with me that most emperors are rulers and not leaders.
Imo is just one case out of many where APC had parallel congresses, is it not going to affect the party’s chances in 2019?
The case of Imo is unique unlike other states where there are misunderstandings but not the governors trying to impose candidate on the people or making attempts for their son in-laws to take over from them. What Okorocha want to prove is that after his wife has become First Lady his daughter will become First Lady and we say the governor cannot achieve this in Imo State. There are a lot of people who have shown interest in the governorship seat and all they are asking for is a level playing field. Okorocha ought to know that the party constitution is supreme and the constitution states that we should accommodate rotation of positions.
If that is true why not allow Owerri zone to produce the next governor?      
APC has not produced any other governor apart from Okorocha in Imo. Nobody is saying Owerri zone should not contest; rather what we are demanding from the governor is to allow for a level playing ground for all contestants to convince the electorate or delegates to nominate or elect them as candidates of their choice. Okorocha should remember that there are other political parties in the state ready to wrestle power from APC in 2019 and that is why we must unite to ensure we retain the state because a house divided against itself shall not stand. So, we must go to the political battle as a unified body, but I’m surprised the governor is going about it alone.
What is the way out?
Okorocha has ran to President Muhammadu Buhari twice and making statements, yet we have not made any statement. What we are waiting for now is the National Convention which will produce the national leadership of the party and finally nominations of candidates that will fly the party’s flag in various positions. However, after the national convention of our great party, we would address the fallout of the congresses in all the affected states. Whatever internal crisis we face in APC, I consider it as a family affair and would be resolved before we go into the general election.
Many will be on the side of Okorocha considering his efforts in sustaining APC in the state and his contribution to President Buhari’s victory in 2015, are you saying that the president will abandon the governor at this stage?

During the second and recent visit to the President in the Presidential Villa by Okorocha accompanied by the former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, where he went to plead with Buhari for soft-landing for Okorocha, the President advised him to go and put his house in order. Yes, President Buhari and APC stakeholders in Imo acknowledged the effort of the governor in the success of the party in the state, but that should not be a guarantee for Okorocha to turn the ruling party in the state into a private enterprise. This is exactly what he is trying to do and we say no and this is the cause of the problem in Imo APC. I know that President Buhari will never support personalisation of the party in state, which is the reason he advised Okorocha to accommodate other stakeholders because a tree does not make a forest even if it is an Iroko tree.
Are you not concerned that the dispute may cost APC the governorship seat?
That is exactly what we are making Okorocha to understand, that Imolites are not robots, they have minds of their own and politically active and should not be taken for granted. If Okorocha refuses to heed to the voice of the people and he goes ahead to push further for his son in-law, Uche Nwosu to succeed him, I’m afraid APC may lose Imo and that will be the end of Okorocha’s political career. The governor is fortunate to have been tolerated to this extent by Imo people and it is just because of the love we have for President Muhammadu Buhari that is why Okorocha is still governor. The people of Imo want to be in the mainstream of the country’s politics and have resolved to vote for President Buhari in 2019. So, the best Okorocha can do to sustain his political legacy beyond 2019 is to allow the people chose who succeeds him.
Many especially, the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s highlight of key areas of his administration’s achievement as contained in the May 2018 Democracy Day broadcast, what is your take?
The APC- led administration under the watchful eyes of President Muhammadu Buhari has delivered on its campaign promises. This government has continued to be applauded both locally and internationally for its laudable achievements especially in the fight against corruption. The one that gladdens my heart most is the promise by the President that he will in a couple of months sign into law the Not-Too- Young-to-Run Bill which has been passed into by the National Assembly.  And he did as promised.
You will agree with me that electricity supply has improved; all drain pipe through which public funds were siphoned have been blocked, the home grown feeding programme is going on in 25 states and soon it will be extended to the remaining states.
In the case of security, we all knew how Boko Haram took over some local government areas in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in 2015, but today those areas have been reclaimed by the military and Sambisa forest that was dreaded has been busted and military barrack constructed. Normalcy has returned to the North-east as some people in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are returning to their homes. The rescue of some Chibok and Dapchi schools girls is a promise kept by President Buhari which the President of the United States, Donald Trump attested to when he received President Buhari in the White House recently.
On Agriculture, you will agree with me it has regained its place of pride once again. Most Nigerians have gone back to the farm because the sector has been made attractive by the government, that is why the youths are taking to farming and food production is being boosted. The N-Power programme of this government has earned young people opportunity to be meaningfully engaged.
The President has promised to bring those who disguise as herdsmen, killing people especially in the North-central to book. So, to me, Buhari has done well and I assure you that he will be re-elected in 2019 to continue the work he is doing.

Culled from Sun

Northern Youths Ask Buhari, Atiku to Shelve Presidential Ambition

• PDP remains with APC, says Baraje

• Oshiomhole pushes for ideology-based ruling party, says APC not for all comers

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Coalition of Northern Youths has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice-President Abubakar not to contest the 2019 presidential election.

In a communiqué issued at the end of their summit in Kaduna Monday, the group urged the two leaders to leave the stage for younger people between the ages of 18 and 60.

The communiqué, which was read by Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, spokesman of the group, said they had previously advised Buhari to leave the stage for younger people.

“We had advised him (Buhari) to look for a younger person who has the integrity like him to run for the presidency. Anybody above 70 years of age should give way to the younger generation,” the group, which last year issued an ultimatum to Nigerians of South-east origin to leave the North, said.

The Northern youth coalition explained that the advice became imperative in view of the fact that Buhari and Abubakar who are both in their 70s “participated in debates that gave birth to the current national arrangement that is largely acknowledged as having failed our national aspirations”.

The group maintained that Nigerians are worried that older people who have dominated the political stage since independence have not moved the country forward.

The communiqué called on Nigerians to insist on a generational change in the leadership of the country.

“Frustrated young Nigerians, having paid their dues in the national development efforts, have been manifestly left to suffer from the suffocating consequences of the prevailing exclusive and defeatist leadership selection process that has been imposed on the country over the years, by succeeding ruling elite.

“It is time they formed a rallying point from which younger Nigerians can make a strong demand for a new political order to usher in a generational power shift as reparation for past marginalisation in the nation’s political leadership,” the group said.

It also frowned on what it described as “the seeming endorsement by some Northern leaders of a brand of restructuring that clearly places the region at a disadvantage”, declaring that it was unacceptable and must be discountenanced.

The group said the North will “not settle for any restructuring plan that is not total, comprehensive and wholistic…”

nPDP’s Grievances

The push for the generational shift in Nigeria’s leadership came just as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) acknowledged Monday that the issues raised by its aggrieved members, who form the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) bloc of the ruling party, were genuine and needed to be addressed.

The group, which left the then ruling PDP at the height of its crisis in 2013 to fuse with the APC coalition, had accused the latter and the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of marginalising and maltreating their members, despite the role they played in bringing APC to power in 2015.

Specifically, they complained of being treated as outsiders in a party they helped to build and sustain.

The group also lamented that while some of their members had been denied security cover to visit their constituencies, others were being prosecuted and faced a witch-hunt by agents of the government.

The members led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje issued a seven-day ultimatum to the leadership of the party to arrange a meeting with them in order to address their complaints.

The group’s ultimatum elapsed last week, fuelling fears that the APC may have called their bluff.

However, addressing reporters Monday shortly after an hour-long meeting with the aggrieved group at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, the Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Senator Shauib Lawan, said the party considered their grievances legitimate and something that should be looked into.

He said although the matter was yet to be resolved, the party was taking it very seriously.

“We have not yet resolved the issues. They wrote a letter to us, they are party men, they have grievances, we have looked at the letter and their grievances are genuine,” he said.

While explaining the apparent delay in addressing their grievances, Lawan said: “They requested a meeting within seven days and before the seven days expired, I called them and they were not ready to come, they said we should shift the meeting till today, which we did.

“So, we are listening to them, we have listened to them and we are taking up their matter seriously, we will address it. We don’t ignore our people except if you don’t send your grievances to the party. But if you send them, we will always address your grievances.”

Speaking on the outcome of the much-anticipated peace talks, Baraje said his group will remain with the ruling APC, but discussions were still at their infancy, noting however that the nPDP was satisfied with the response of the APC leadership.

According to him, “So far so good. We have just started. And when you start a race, you don’t say whether somebody wants to see you until you get to the middle or to the end. But it’s a good start, it’s a good beginning.

“As you are aware, we requested that we wanted to see the party, and the party, very sensitive party, very responsible party, responded to our requests adequately and we think it was a very encouraging thing.

“Since last week, they got across to us, but because of one logistic or the other, we couldn’t come until today. We begged the party to shift the date until today, and today we have seen our party leadership.

“We are party members, this office is our office, we have only come home to discuss those observations we wrote in our letter. The meeting was very beautiful.”

When asked in specific terms what was discussed, Baraje said: “We have not concluded and the discussions will continue.”

Baraje also dismissed the splinter group led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, saying that as far as he was concerned, 99.5 per cent of the members of the nPDP were in support of the demands he made.

Earlier, Senator Lawan had said the APC leadership did not receive any letter from the Senator Adamu-led group.

Members with Common Ideals

Meanwhile, former Edo State governor and aspirant for the position of the national chairman of the APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has declared that the ruling party should only admit people who share its ideology and who will add value to the party, going forward.

Oshiomhole, who spoke Monday during a visit to former Abia State governor, Orji Kalu, said political parties are not an all-comers affair but for those that are ready to add value to their activities.

He said as a party, the APC should be able to tell some people whose beliefs run counter to the ideals of the party to look elsewhere for membership of a political party.

He said political parties ought to be governed by a set of value-adding ideals that members must subscribe to, “otherwise you are not supposed to be a member”.

Oshiomhole, who expressed concern over the continued feud between the executive and legislative arms of government, said that the party could not afford to be an onlooker in the current rift between both arms of government.

He said as chairman of the party, he would make sure that all party organs are made to function as constitutionally mandated, adding that “when the party organs are not functioning, then we are just a collection of people”.

According to the chairmanship aspirant, the responsibility of a political party goes beyond providing a platform for elections.

“The party should monitor the conduct of its members as well as how elected representatives of the people are keeping faith with the manifesto of the party,” he noted.

Continuing, Oshiomhole said: “We are at a critical juncture in our country and over the next couple of months, the political environment will be heated up when all the aspirants and candidates would have emerged and our party is expected to, as the governing party, lead by example.

“I believe that after the historic amalgamation of the four and half parties that now form the APC, it is enough for us to have welded into a party and provide the kind of leadership that Nigerians expect from a political party that is based on the principle of social democracy which was why we carefully choose the name ‘Progressives’.

“It is not a secret that we have our own fair share of internal challenges. I believe that there is nothing wrong in parties having internal challenges, but what matters is a leadership that has the capacity to manage those challenges and encourage internal democracy and evolve a style of leadership that is based on inclusion rather than exclusion.

“We must strengthen the process of the bottom-up approach to decision making so that when we talk about a party position, it will be one in which party leaders and members will say, yes, we participated in the process that led to this decision.

“The organs of the party must be made to function. When organs of the party are not functioning, then we are just a collection of individuals.

“It is my hope that we move beyond creating a platform that is simply there for election purpose, just like a public taxi. It should also be a platform to continue to engage all those who are elected on the platform of the party and ensure that what they do and how they do it is in line with the manifesto and the core values that bind the party together.

“I think it is the duty of a political party leadership to monitor the activities of government and the various organs, and where there are disagreements, you intervene in a way that will provide solutions.

“In the real world, you get what you are able to negotiate. In a democracy, we must have the skills to negotiate, skills to persuade, skills to reach a compromise, and as they say, the strength of the people in power is measured by the way they deal with those who are completely powerless.

“The gains of democracy are the promises to protect the weak. Working with leaders like you, I believe we can build a functional, democratic mass base – a membership driven and membership funded political party that is accountable to its members.

“That way, Nigerians will begin to see the difference between the APC and other parties. We must begin to consciously work towards building a strong party. So, if a reactionary element wants to join the APC with his antecedents, and we feel that his values and actions do not conform with the core values of social democracy, we should be able to engage such a person and say, Mr. Applicant, maybe you might look elsewhere.

“I don’t think we should be a platform for all, beginning from the extreme right to the extreme left and even fascist, if they are able to manipulate the people in their constituencies.

“I think over time, this must be the objective so that in the years to come, Nigerians should be able to say the APC, this is what they stand for on issues.

“In opting to join or leave a party, it should be based on what you believe in or what you know that the party stands for; anyone wanting to contest elections at any level must be someone that subscribes to these core values.

“This is a task I believe we must work together to build. So that Nigerians should be able to make informed choices on Election Day.

“We have seen it from the PDP that because that bond was simply based on money, and the philosophy was about sharing the money, once access to the money was disconnected, the centre could not hold. So, there are huge lessons to be learnt from that – that money as a glue to bind a party together is not sustainable.

“What is sustainable are shared values, a shared commitment to an identified goal and creating a platform for contestants and allowing policy choices and how best to get there, even when the goal is not in dispute.

“You know that one of the challenges we have at the moment is the problem between the Executive and the National Assembly. Again, I believe that the party should not be a spectator in moments like that and wait for things to get out of control.

“Party business is not a casual business and a political party is not an unorganised organisation. It is a formally structured organisation based on rules and those rules provide us with the basis to be able to interrogate those involved in any contestations and realise that at the end of the day, you can debate and realise that common goal we all subscribe to.”

Responding, the former Abia State governor expressed support for Oshiomhole.

He also expressed optimism that there would be no rancour after the party’s convention and urged Oshiomhole to remain a statesman and ensure that party leaders whom he would be succeeding are treated with respect when they step down.

Culled from Thisday

JUST IN: Lagos on total lockdown as Buhari visits, residents groan

Segun Adio

Lagosians woke up on Thursday to a hectic situation as most part of the metropolis were on total lockdown.Thousands of residents of the state are currently bstranded and are made to trek several kilometres to various destinations as major roads in the metropolis have been locked down by stern-looking military men and other paramilitary personnel.
President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to visit Lagos on Thursday to commission some projects and also participate in the 66th birthday anniversary of national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Some of the closed highways were ever-busy Lagos-Abeokuta expressway (both ways), Ikeja-Agege motor road, among others. Daily Sun observed that some  pedestrians trying to use their  mobile phones to video the development were manhandled by security operatives.

Culled from Sun

Teacher Flogs Student to Death

A teacher at Government Day Secondary School Sankalawa in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State has allegedly flogged a student to death.

The incident was revealed wednesday by the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar-Gummi.

The deputy speaker, who spoke under matters of urgent public importance during the assembly’s sitting in Gusau, said that the house had received several reports on the issue.

According to him, another incident at Government Female Day Secondary School, Kwatarkwashi, has led to the injury of a student in the school after the Vice Principal allegedly subjected her to heavy punishment.

“These problems apart from discouraging our children from acquiring education, also revealed poor attitude to work on the part of teachers in this state,” Gumni said.

He urged the assembly to invite the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology to explain steps taken to address the issues.

The Speaker, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji described the actions of the teachers as unfortunate and vowed that the assembly would not allow the matter to pass.

“It is part of our responsibilities to ensure effective security and good learning atmosphere for our children for their future development, therefore, we cannot allow teachers to continue harassing our children from schools,” he said.
The Speaker directed the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology to invite the commissioner to appear before it on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Assembly has passed into law the bill for the establishment of Zamfara State University, Talata-Mafara.

Thisday