“Your customer relations is very bad. No response to chat or calls, how do customers reach out to you? Been trying to reach out for days and no response.”
@KorofoG
Tambuwal Is New NGF Chairman, Succeeds Fayemi
By Adesina Soyooye
The profile of Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, a Lawyer, is on the rise. It has been since a couple of days ago.
Fresh from being appointed the Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Campaign Council, Tambuwal, on Thursday, became the Chairman of the influential Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF.
He succeeds the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, whose four-year tenure has gradually come to end because his tenure as Governor would end in the next couple of weeks.
Before now, Tambuwal was Fayemi’s Deputy, and would hold the office until May, 2023, when an election will take place, and by which time Tambuwal’s two term tenure as Governor would expire.
Tambuwal is also the Chairman of the PDP’s Governors’ Forum. With his new position as the Chairman of the NGF, it is not known, yet, if he would relinquish his chairmanship of the PDP Governors’ Forum to another PDP Governor, or if he would keep both.
War: Russians Flee To border To Escape Military Call-up
Queues have sprung up along Russia’s border as men attempt to leave the country amid a military call-up for the war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilisation on Wednesday, which could see 300,000 people summoned to serve in the war.
The Kremlin says reports of fighting-age men fleeing are exaggerated.
But on the border with Georgia, miles-long queues of vehicles have formed including men trying to escape the war.
One man, who did not want to be named, told the BBC’s Rayhan Demytrie he had grabbed his passport and headed to the border, without packing anything else, immediately after President’ Putin’s announcement – because he fell into the group that could potentially be sent to the war.
‘I will break my arm, my leg… anything to avoid the draft’
Some witnesses estimated the queue of cars at the Upper Lars checkpoint to be some 5km (3 miles) long, while another group said it had taken seven hours to get across the border. Video from the scene showed some drivers leaving their cars or trucks temporarily in standstill traffic.
Georgia is one of the few neighbouring countries that Russians can enter without needing a apply for a visa. Finland, which shares a 1,300km (800 mile) border with Russia, does require a visa for travel, and also reported an increase in traffic overnight – but said it was at a manageable level.
Other destinations reachable by air – such as Istanbul, Belgrade or Dubai – have seen ticket prices skyrocket immediately after the military call-up was announced, with some destinations sold out completely. Turkish media have reported a large spike in one-way ticket sales, while remaining flights to non-visa destinations can cost thousands of euros.
‘I will break my arm, my leg… anything to avoid the draft’
Sergei – not his real name – has already been called up.
The 26-year-old Ph.D. student and lecturer was expecting a delivery of groceries the night before the Putin address when two men arrived in civilian clothes handing him military papers to sign.
The Kremlin said only people who had done their military service and had special skills and combat experience would be called up.
But Sergei has no military experience and his stepfather is worried, as dodging the draft is a criminal offence in Russia.
The call-up sparked protests in major Russian cities including Moscow and St Petersburg on Tuesday, resulting in a reported 1,300 arrests.
There were also reports from Russia that some of those detained for protesting had been handed draft papers while in custody at police stations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the reports, said that doing so was not against the law.
The reaction to the military mobilisation inside Russia has been unusually strong.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence, commenting on the call-up in its Wednesday morning briefing, noted that the mobilisation “is likely to be highly unpopular with parts of the Russian population”.
“Putin is accepting considerable political risk in the hope of generating much-needed combat power. The move is effectively an admission that Russia has exhausted its supply of willing volunteers to fight in Ukraine,” it said.
Even if successful, challenges remain – and it is unlikely new units will be ready for combat for several more months, the defence intelligence update said.
Russian officials insist the call-up will be limited to those who had completed military service, and fall short of widespread conscription.
But inside Russia, there is also speculation that the military mobilisation could be larger than formally announced.
The independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which moved its operations to Europe amid a post-war crackdown on media, reported that Vladimir Putin’s decree contains an additional paragraph that has been classified and kept secret.
The newspaper alleges that the secret paragraph allows for a call-up of up to a million people, rather than the reported 300,000, citing an unnamed government source.
BBC
Atiku Versus Wike: How Governor’s Rebellion Is Robbing Off Negatively on Atiku in Cross River
By Stanley Ekpenyong, Calabar
With Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in firm control of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, structures in Cross River State, all is evidently not looking well for the party’s candidate for next year’s Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, in the state.
Apparently careful not to displease Wike, Cross River PDP candidates for next year’s elections are distancing themselves from Atiku.
Wike, this Magazine learnt, was instrumental to the emergence of the candidates, including the Gubernatorial flag bearer, Professor( Senator) Sandy Onor.
Senator Onor and Wike were Local Government Chairmen at the same time and played prominent roles in the politics of the Association Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON. While the Rivers State Governor was the National Chairman of the body, Onor was the Secretary.
The gravity of the cold shoulders towards Atiku by Sandy/Wike faction of the PDP in Cross River is conspicuously noticed in various PDP offices and campaign offices in the state, especially Calabar, the State capital.
For example, while the posters and billboards of Bola Tinubu, the APC Presidential candidate adorn the party’s secretariat alongside those of other candidates of the party, the PDP secretariat situated at the popular Mary Slessor Avenue is bereft of Atiku’s posters or billboards.
Rather, boldly displayed in and around the party headquarters are Senator Onor’s campaign posters.
Similarly, while APC candidates for various offices boldly identify with Tinubu by including his picture in their posters, their PDP counterparts are not doing that for Atiku.
A PDP/ Atiku supporter, Joseph Frank, condemning the shabby treatment Atiku is receiving from the Wike/Onor-led Cross River PDP demanded, in a social media post: “Put ATIKU Abubakar’s banner in the Party secretariat!!!!
“Enough is enough
“Cross river PDP is not answerable to Wike,
“Enough of this show of shame and embarrassment.
“The leaders of the party should stop embarrassing CRS PDP.
Put ATIKU ABUBAKAR’S campaign banner in the secretariat”
The unsettling polarisation of the PDP in Cross River has the State’s two former PDP Governors in different camps.
While former governor Donald Duke is a staunch member of the Wike camp, his successor, Senator Liyel Imoke is rooting for Atiku.
With the rancorous State of the party in Cross River, political pundits say it will be a miracle if PDP makes any impact in the State in next year’s elections.
PDP: How Ayu Corrupted Presidential Primary – Senator Jang
By Gideon Njoku
Senator David Jang has accused the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, of corruption. He said the Chairman corrupted the process which led to the declaration of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as the Party’s Presidential candidate.
Jang, a two-time Governor of Plateau State, who is now a Senator, said Ayu corrupted the process in favour of Atiku.
During the Party’s Presidential Primary held in May in Abuja, Atiku beat Wike to a respectable second place. An aggrieved Wike was further aggravated when Atiku chose Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate, thus dashing Wike’s hope.
But since then, nothing has been the same in the Party. Wike and some of his high profile supporters, known as Team Wike, are baying for the blood of the National Chairman. They insist that Ayu must step down, as Chairman, for a Southerner, because Atiku comes from same North as Ayu.
However, Jang, a member of Team Wike, has finally confirmed what not a few people think is the problem – the defeat of Wike by Atiku.
Speaking in Porthacourt, Rivers State, after Team Wike held a meeting at Wike’s private residence on Wednesday, and agreed to withdraw from the Presidential Campaign Council until the exit of Ayu as Chairman, Jang held the National Chairman responsible for Wike’s defeat in the Presidential Primary.
He said Wike was defeated because Ayu had a meeting, before the Convention, with Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, also a Presidential aspirant, where both men agreed that Tambuwal should step down for Atiku.
Tambuwal had, after addressing the Convention on why delegates should vote for him, came out for a second time, addressed them again, and surprisingly asked his supporters to vote Atiku. It was Tambuwal’s withdrawal from the race in favour of Atiku that Jang and others insist pushed Atiku to victory.
Jang cited as proof Ayu’s ill-advised visit to Tambuwal at the Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, hours after the Primary, where he hailed Tambuwal as the “hero of the Convention”, and hugged him. “Wike was short-changed by Ayu”, said Jang.
His words: “Here was a referee who now helped one of the sides to score a goal, and then blew a whistle that a goal has been scored. This is not what we formed the PDP to do for Nigerians and, therefore, we unequivocally ask that Ayu has to step down.” There are fears in the PDP that the stand of Team Wike, if not quickly resolved, would affect the fortunes of the Party at the 2023 Presidential polls. At least, four other State Governors are with Wike. They are: Samuel Ortom, Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, Seyi Makinde, Oyo and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu. To lose five States, given the powers and influence of Governors during elections is a big deal.
Assault On W/Police Inspector By Professor: IGP Orders Prosecution, Calls Her Name-Dropper; Nigerians Slam Force Authority
By Ayodele Oni
The Inspector-General of Police, (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba has strongly condemned the assault of a female Police Officer, Inspector Teju Moses, by her principal in Abuja early in the week.
A Legal practitioner who, also, claims to be a human rights activist, Prof. Zainab Duke Abiola and her domestic staff – a house maid, one Rebecca Enechido, and a male suspect currently at large, allegedly assaulted the woman police for refusing to carry out an instruction.
But not a few people hold the Police authorities responsible for the assault on, and humiliation of the Police Officer by Duke- Abiola. The questions they are asking are: Who attached a Police Officer, a Woman Inspector, no less, as Oderly to her? Is she entitled to a Police Orderly? Why?
Zainab Duke, a Rivers State indigene, grievously assaulted her Orderly in company of some accomplices on Tuesday 20th September, 2022 at her residence in Garki, Abuja, due to her refusal to breach professional ethics by carrying out menial and domestic chores at her house.
Force spokesman, Olumiyiwa Adejobi said in a statement that “The IGP has directed the express prosecution of the arrested suspects who are currently in Police custody.
“The preliminary investigation shows overwhelming evidence of culpability on the part of the Professor and her domestic staff.
“The IGP has equally tasked the investigative team to ensure that the fleeing suspect is arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.
“It is pertinent to clarify that the suspect, Prof. Zainab, who name-drops the IGP, his family members, and other officers in the top hierarchy of the Force, has no acquaintance with the Police in any form as erroneously peddled on social media.
“The Inspector-General of Police who similarly ordered the withdrawal of all Police personnel attached to the Professor, expressed consternation at the fact that an individual who claims to be an advocate for Human Rights could stoop so low to violate the rights of another individual, a police officer tasked with ensuring her protection.”
Zainab was a Politician. She was in the Social Democratic Party, and had, at least, on one occasion aspired to be the Governor of the State when Ambassador Babagana Kingibe was the Chairman.
She said she was married to the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1999 Presidential election, whose name she bears till date. But it is a claim Abiola denied until death.
However, she was once married to a Traditional Ruler, King Alfred Diete- Spiff, the first Military Governor of Rivers State. State.
OPINION: Do Campaigns Have To Be Bloody To Win?
By Azu Ishiekwene
If this were a compulsory exam question, a number of politicians would simply answer: it depends. On what? On what is at stake. What the opponent does and how. And, of course, how far the resources of the one at the receiving end can go to exact revenge, sometimes in spite of the rules.
As campaigns for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria begin, everything is at stake. From the office of representatives in state houses of assembly to the positions of 28 governors, 469 national lawmakers, and the president.
In all, about 1,520 positions are up for election and for the first time, Muhammadu Buhari who has been president for nearly eight years and a contestant in all elections in the last nearly 20, would not be on the ballot for what is perhaps the most consequential office.
The stakes to play for are not only high, they are dangerously seductive for two contenders – the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar – two deep pockets who may well be taking their last shot at the nation’s top job.
The real world is not a periodic exam hall. Nowhere is the ferocity of contest keener than in political campaigns, such as we’re about to commence. It’s a grisly mess of interests, of wheeling and dealing, and continuous cloak and dagger entanglements worse than the binary choices often present in an examination.
A 2018 report by Daily Trust quoted the INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu Mohmood, as saying that for N242 billion, the 2019 election was the most expensive ever. That is excluding expenses by candidates, parties and individuals. The next one might beat that record.
If only it were possible to see the arsenal of Nigeria’s political parties – especially the major ones – on the eve of the commencement of campaigns for the 2023 general elections. I would not be surprised if they have stockpiled enough weapons to give either Russia or Ukraine a decisive advantage in the ongoing conflict in Europe.
It’s not a laughing matter. If morning shows the day, the pre-flag off skirmishes among not just supporters but even the campaign team members of the APC, the PDP, and the Labour Party (LP) show that we could be in for a season of blood sport.
Recent exhibits, of course, include the feisty exchanges between APC’s Femi Fani-Kayode and PDP’s Dino Melaye. Anyone with the heart to read either of their recent messages to the end risked exposure to post-traumatic stress.
With PDP’s relentless Reno Omokri in the wings, the APC media team led by formidable warriors like Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga and Festus Keyamo, among others, and the LP’s army of social media avatars at daggers drawn, we’ll have to double down on luck to have a normal campaign season.
But what does history teach, really? Is all the talk about issues-based campaigns wishful thinking? With all to play for, is it realistic to expect bloodless campaigns? And in any case, if winning often matters more than anything else in politics, do normal campaigns win?
Normal campaigns may be desirable. They may even have worked at some point in Athens or Ancient Rome. Yet, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesaris a constant reminder of the world’s long and futile journey to political amity.
Mass communication tools and their widespread adoption have fuelled the flames and compounded the misery of pacifists hoping for a day of decency in political campaigns. Also, we have seen from the 2015 performance of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, that social media can be both a facilitator and a big danger to elections.
But perhaps there are exceptions, however imperfect, from which our politicians could take a leaf in the days ahead?
Despite his disability, for example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the US ran what presidential historians consider some of the most successful campaigns. In spite of the daunting odds of the Great Depression, FDR ran a campaign in 1932 that ended four decades of Republican dominance, a feat that he sustained and repeated back-to-back in three subsequent terms. His theme song, “Happy days are here again”, became his party’s anthem.
How a man stricken with polio at 39 could have done it was in part a result of the genius of his message which offered despairing voters a “New Deal” after the famished years of Republican rule, and partly also as a result of the understanding of the press not to highlight his disability, which frankly, would be a miracle today.
The point is that the only US President who ruled for an unprecedented four terms ran largely issues-based campaigns and won, in spite of his disability. And to think that he had in his corner, the warmonger and one of America’s most notorious publishers, Williams Randolph Hearst, whom he could have pressed to dishonorable ends!
US Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan also showed how even in the age of the TV, focusing on issues and connecting with people can make a difference in election campaigns.
And perhaps the most electrifying in the recent history of US campaigns has been Barack Obama, an extraordinary mobiliser and charming politician whose wife, Michelle, said in spite of all the garbage thrown at Obama by Hillary Clinton’s bullies in 2016, “when they go low, we go high.”
Newly elected Kenyan President William Ruto also provides an example of how to run a difficult campaign without always being nasty. In spite of his supporters getting trashed and the few he recommended as cabinet members being targets of Uhuru Kenyatta witch hunt, Ruto harped on how the government’s anti-corruption war had lost its way.
While his main opponent mocked and called him an “irresponsible young man deceiving Kenyans with fake promises”, Ruto’s campaign responded by providing a roadmap of how he would tackle the country’s 40 percent youth unemployment. He spun a legend that he was a “hustler”, just like the ordinary people, and not a member of the corrupt, grasping dynasty.
MKO Abiola’s Hope ‘93 was also, in many respects, exemplary and a number of the current actors played important roles in it. In comparison with the National Republican Convention (NRC), Abiola’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) was imaginative, folksy and down-to-earth. Abiola showed a forlorn, divided country that it was possible to believe again.
Since the military railroaded President Olusegun Obasanjo back to office in 1999, our political campaigns have been anything but inspiring. Obasanjo, both a creature and mastermind of this new era, poignantly described it as a “do-or-die” affair.
As the blatant lies, fake promises and dark schemes of politicians have come back to haunt them, a number of them begotten of this season seem determined to return to their natural habitat – the mud.
Yet, voters will have to decide whether or not to join them there. Voters who indulge the demagoguery of politicians, who choose to cheer them on as they kick the leg instead of the ball, cannot blame anyone when charlatans run their lives for another four years.
President Muhammadu Buhari, like those before him, has repeatedly promised free and fair elections. But that, quite honestly, is not his job. It is the duty of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to see to it and the responsibility of citizens to hold the Commission’s feet to the fire.
Civil society and the press can also help with the most important question of any election campaign – how? They can help not only to remind voters of what is important and insist that politicians play by the rules, but also by constantly demanding that the umpire, INEC, should monitor and enforce its own rules.
Campaigns matter because they can help to activate voter interest and also underline the fundamental issues, which for Nigeria, includes security, the state of the economy or where partisan or group interests may lie.
As Gary Jacobson said in his article, “How do campaigns matter?”, published in the May 2015 issue of the Annual Review of Political Science, “The question is not whether campaigns matter, but where, when, for what and for whom they matter.”
The supply side has let us down badly, offering mostly transient amusement, vile abuse or downright bogus promises. It’s time to demand something more than empty promissory notes. Something we can hold onto the morning after this seasonal charm offensive has gone.
Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP
Governor Akeredolu Laments: “I Doubt If Nigeria Is One Indivisible Country”
By Ayodele Oni
Ondo State Governor, and Chairman, Southern Governors Forum , Oluwarotimi Akeredolu says he doubts claim that Nigeria is one indivisible country.
Governor Akeredolu, while reacting to social media video showing some members of a regional security outfit in Katsina being granted approval to carry arms, while similar outfit in southwest is being denied same priviledge, said “we are pursuing one country, two systems.”
In a statement personally signed by him, Akeredolu stated that “The video making the rounds showing the equivalent of the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun Corps) in Katsina, obtaining the approval of the Federal Government to bear arms is fraught with great dangers.
“Denying Amotekun the urgently needed rights, to legitimately bear arms is a repudiation of the basis of true federalism which we have been clamoring for.
“That Katsina was able to arm its state security force, with the display of AK47 means we are pursuing one country, two systems ” solution to the national question.
“If the katsina situation conferring advantages on some, in the face of commonly faced existential threats, it means that our unitary policing system, which has failed, is a deliberate method of subjugation which must be challenged.
“The Independence agreement was based on a democratic arrangement to have a federal state and devolved internal security mechanics.
“We must go back to that agreement. Denying Amotekun the right to bear arms exposes the Southwest to life-threatening marauders and organized crime.
“It is also a deliberate destruction of our agricultural sector. It is an existential threat.
“We want to reiterate, that what is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. Ondo State government under the doctrine of necessity have decided to fulfil its legal, constitutional and moral duty to the citizens of the State, by acquiring arms to protect them.
“This is more so, given that the bandits have an unchecked access to sophisticated weapons. The State government cannot look on while its citizens are being terrorized and murdered with impunity. We will defend our people.”
Ondo, Ogun Lay Claim To Ownership Of Four Riverine Communities
By Ayodele Oni
Ondo and Ogun, two neighbouring States in the South-west are set for showdown over ownership of four riverine Communities between them.
Ogun State Government had on Wednesday claimed ownership of four Communities of Irokun, Obinehin, Idigbengben and Araromi which are among those whose Traditional Rulers were recently upgraded by Ondo state government.
Ondo State Government on Thursday reacted in a statement that the three Communities are under Ilaje Local Government Area of the State.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Bamidele Ademola- Olateju, stated that: “The press statement issued by Ogun State Government, based on the recent white paper issued by Ondo State, recognizing the Traditional Institutions of IROKUN , OBINEHIN, IDIGBENGBEN and ARAROMI seaside has been brought to the attention of the Ondo State Government.
“The Government has decided to respond as follows in order to set the records straight.
“Irokun, Obinehin, Idigbengben and Araromi seaside are Communities within Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State. These Communities have a long history of Traditional Institutions within the State.
‘These Communities are not in dispute between Ondo State and Ogun State as the people living therein are indigenes of Ondo State. In addition, the landmass occupied by these Communities falls within the territory of Ondo State of Nigeria.
“The claim that these Communities are in dispute before the National Boundary commission is untrue, as the Communities are within Ilaje Local Government of Ondo State.
“Federal institutions like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regularly conduct elections in these Communities and votes cast are recorded for Ilaje Local Government of Ondo state.
“The recognized Traditional Institutions in these Communities are integral parts of Traditional Institutions in, and of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State and the Traditional Rulers are indigenes of Ondo State.
“Ondo State Government in the recent Whitepaper issued on Hon. Justice Ajama Commission, avoided consideration of request for recognition of Traditional Institutions from Communities where there are land disputes and communal conflicting claims, pending the resolution of such disputes.
“It should be noted that the Traditional Institutions of these Communities, submitted memoranda and appeared publicly before Ondo state Hon. Justice C.E.T Ajama commission of Enquiry on Chieftaincy matters, set up by Ondo State as far back as 2015 without any opposition from any quarter, including the Government of Ogun State.
“It is surprising that the Government of Ogun State is trying to claim ownership, after Ondo State Government has accepted the recommendation of the said Commission.
“While the Government of Ondo State is not averse to discussions on this matter as requested, we,however, urge our brothers in Ogun State to check their records properly on issues raised in their Press Statement.
“It is on record that the Communities in question have been in a festive mood since the announcement by Ondo State Government to recognize their Traditional Institutions.
“There is no threat to peace in these Communities. We urge our people to continue to live harmoniously amongst themselves for the development of our dear Sunshine State.”
Opinion: It’s In Igbo’s Best Interest To Support Tinubu
By Fredrick Nwabufo,
Could Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), be that unifier a sundered Nigeria needs? What are his antecedents as regards respect for diversity and sensitivity to inclusion? Well, as governor of Lagos, Tinubu had a diverse cabinet; in fact, he is reputed to be one of the few governors who appointed non-natives into state cabinets at the time – when it was unsexy to do so.
Tinubu showed his expansiveness as governor of Lagos. And over the years, he has shown an aspect of himself as a Nigerian flag-waver. Tinubu cannot be put on trial for religious or ethnic prejudice. He can be accused of any other character errancy, but not of sectarianism, insularity or dogmatism.
I believe Tinubu’s presidency is the southeast’s best chance at re-centring itself in national politics. At the moment, Tinubu is the only candidate from the south who enjoys plural support across the divide, groups, zones and regions. So, it is only logical that consciences and interests in the south are mobilised behind him.
I thought by now the south-east must have learnt from the perils of political naivety. It is imprudent of a group of Igbo elders under ‘’Igbo Elders Consultative Forum’’ to declare publicly that they are not in support of Tinubu’s presidential bid. This was the same path these elders toed in 2015 against Muhammadu Buhari which resulted in the political blackballing of the zone. I am of the opinion that elders should be temperate and circumspect on matters of this tenor.
I suggest, they should be fair and equitable in their support for Peter Obi. What is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander. Scorched-earth politics will only leave the land barren. They could have elected to be neutral or stay aloof. They could have also deployed tact in managing all political interests without publicly showing preference for any.
The south-east must cast its net wide and consider some possible outcomes. The APC and its presidential candidate are options they must explore. Going all head in in politics is injudicious.
We should be wary of repeating the same mistakes of 2015. We must not let our emotions colour our reality. We must not walk starry-eyed into political Siberia. We must not attempt another hara-kiri.
As I said in a previous column, the Labour Party is not a viable vehicle to ride to victory. It is a rustled-up contraption without deep roots across the country. The south-east regaining its place means it must look beyond a solitary party – that is the Labour Party (LP). It must put itself in the thick of things – at the centre — and play realpolitik. To sit at the table, it must wrest itself from the enchantment of the Labour Party and its candidate. We go all in and throw all in but get nothing out.
One Igbo leader who seems to be reading the hieroglyphics of the times right is Orji Uzo Kalu. Kalu is playing realpolitik. He understands the art of the deal. Orji Kalu, despite his reputational flaws, could be the politician that would take the south-east out of political Siberia.
He said in a recent interview: “Presidency is not a regional issue. I asked the political parties to zone the presidency to the south-east. When they didn’t do that, and since the presidency is not a regional issue, I had to withdraw. I have no problem with the Igbo man being president, but we have to do it with other Nigerians. If we don’t do it with other Nigerians, it will not work, no matter how popular you are.
It’s the president of Nigeria, not the president of Igbo land. But for now, our presidential candidate is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu is strategic. He will make his presidency beneficial to the Igbo. The Igbo will be the biggest beneficiaries of Tinubu’s presidency.’’
I agree, Tinubu’s presidency will be of great benefit to the Igbo. Really, it will be a coup de maître if more Igbo leaders join Orji Kalu in his crusade for Tinubu. Who says the south-east and the south-west cannot work in political consonance?
However, it is important that Tinubu begins now to show the prospects of inclusion and of sensitivity to diversity in his disposition, plans and policy paradigms. It is important he emphasises that there will be no perpetuation of exclusivist proclivities which deepen national strife and insecurity.
Tinubu should reach out to the south-east, traditional rulers, political leaders and everyday citizens with intentions and plans of bringing them into one composite fold where all Nigerians can exist under justice, equity, peace and harmony.
It is in the best interest of the south-east to support Tinubu. I believe Tinubu’s presidency will be for all Nigerians.
Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.