I’ve not marginalized S’East –Buhari told governors,ministers and federal lawmakers from the zone and the leadership of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo

ISSUES surrounding the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), infrastructure decay and underdevelopment of the South-East, among others, topped discussion when President Muhammadu Buhari met with governors, ministers and federal lawmakers from the zone and the leadership of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, yesterday.

The governors in attendance were: Abia, Okezie Ikpeazu; Enugu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Ebonyi, Dave Umahi, the Imo deputy governor,  Eze Madumere and the deputy governor of Anambra, Nkem Okeke. Lawmakers in attendance were: Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South.

The President of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who told State House correspondents that the interaction was frank and robust, expressed confidence that Buhari, in all sincerity, will address all issues, with time.

Nwodo, flanked by members of the delegation he led to the meeting, said: “We had a frank and robust exchange. We discussed the problems of the South East and as head of state he is the final repository of an appeal for the resolutions of those problems. We went into great details about each of those problems and I have confidence that he will give it the attention they deserve.

He further noted: “We dealt with problems of development in the south east, basic capital projects which have for a very long time been neglected not just from this government but for a very long time. Major arteries of federal highways in the South East have been in complete state of disrepair.Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Ikoyi Ekpene are virtually impassable.

“We talked about the inland waterways and the dredging of the River Niger. We talked about the reticulation of gas pipelines on the south east. We export gas from the South-East to other parts of the country, but there is no reticulation of the pipeline and industrial clusters in the South-East.

“We talked about the only international airport we have in the south east which has very bad infrastructure in terms of the buildings that have been ravaged.

“We got assurance from the president that he will deal with each of those problems.”

Asked if the issue of marginalization was discussed, Nwodo said: “That was the opening line and that was why we singled out these things. Like I have said, these problems have been there overtime and we have had several presidents, it didn’t just happen in the last two years. But we expressed the desire that he should be able to address them.”

Asked if the president’s promises can be trusted, he responded that “there is no reason for me to doubt him because this is the first time I have had this interaction with him. I have the feeling that he spoke to us very frankly.”

Asked if the issue of IPOB formed part of the discussion, he said, “We came here for the issues of developments in our place.” When prodded further he said the issue of IPOB came about as symptomatic consequence of the continuous marginalization of the South-East over a long period of time. “Understandably, our children are restive and we want to make sure that the Federal Government is responsive to the issues that have cumulated to fan up these agitations.”

On devolution of powers, Nwodo said: “We did talk about the issue of devolution of powers, the constitution, the paucity of the states and local governments in our place and the President has asked that he be given time to look at this more holistically.”

President Buhari had in his Independence Day broadcast blamed the elders and leaders of South-East for IPOB’s agitation, insisting that they should have warned those daring to agitate for Biafra to give up the idea because of the consequences of the civil war suffered by the region.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said President  Buhari  assured stakeholders from the South East that the region will benefit more from roads and coastal rail projects, which are of critical importance to the economy.

He declared that 2nd Niger Bridge, the East-West Road and the coastal rail project, are receiving utmost attention from Buhari’s administration.

The President said counterpart funding from the Chinese government would substantially fund these projects, which when completed will improve the welfare, well-being and economy of the people in the region.

“I thank you for articulating your demands and I want to assure that we are doing our best for the country. If we can stop people from stealing, then there will be more resources to put into projects that will create employment for Nigerians,” the President said.

Responding to allegations of under-representation of Igbos in his government, the President said: “I gave South-East four substantive ministers, namely, the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Investment, Science and Technology and Labour.

“Seven states in the North got Ministers of State and of the two Ministries headed by your sons, I cannot take any decision on foreign policy and investments without their input,” he said.

The President also promised the leaders, he will visit states in the zone soon.

Anambra State guber: Buhari storms Awka for Nwoye flag of Campaign ...read more below

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that he will be at the grand finale of the campaign in Anambra state ahead of the gubernatorial election scheduled for November 18th.

The Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, made the disclosure to State House Correspondents after he and the All Progressives Congress candidate, Tony Nwoye met with the president.

The governor said he came to give update to the president as the chairman of the national campaign council of the APC for the Anambra governorship election.

He said, “I am the chairman of the national campaign council of the APC for the Anambra governorship election that is taking place on 18th of November this year. We have had our primaries and we have settled all the appeals, we have done reconciliations. It is therefore time to present to the father of the nation, the President of  the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the candidate of the APC in Anambra state, Tony Nwoye.

“The President has received us very well and has promised us that Isha Allah he will personally grace the grand finale of the campaign in Anambra state.”

Nwoye on his part expressed confidence that he will emerge victorious come November 18th.

He said, “as you know, I am not God but based on the parameters and the indices of the Anambra political terrain and based on the campaigns that we have done so far, I am confident that by God’s grace because God gives power, that we are going to win.”

On the threat by the Indigenous People of Biafra to boycott the election, he said, “We are not afraid of the threat. Our youths are unemployed, people are wailing and crying. These are the symptoms of what you are seeing now. Our people are seeing reasons why there should be elections. Some of them who may have been brainwashed, we are engaging them to see reasons why they should allow people to elect people who they want to lead them.”

Crocodile Smile II: We won’t vaccinate people, says Army...read more below

The Nigerian Army has said that the military exercise, Operation Crocodile Smile II is to increase the operations of the Nigerian Army in the Niger Delta region.

The Army also reacted to the report of a vaccination which caused pandemonium in Yenagoa.

 The Brigade Commander, 16 Brigade, Brig- Gen Kevin Aligbe who said the operation was to increase the rhythm and mileage of the army in the Niger Delta maintained that there was no need for the people to panic.

Aligbe spoke Saturday during the environmental exercise by the 16 Brigade as part of the activities for the period of the operation and said the Army would maintain professionalism during the exercise.

“Operation crocodile smile II is intended to increase the rhythm of our combat operations in the creeks and land based activities. At the end of the day the operational skills of all those participating will be sharpened and of course we would have gained more mileage. Of course, a lot resources have been given to the army headquarters to boost what we are doing.

He said apart from the routine activities in the creeks, rivulets and all land patrols, confidence building and all of that, the military decided to undertake some communities’ relation activities to bridge the gaps between the army and the immediate communities where they reside.

On the reported vaccination, Aligbe who noted that the Army has no intention of conducting a vaccination since it is not part of its medical outreaches noted that its medical outreaches are not forced on people.

‘‘During our outreach, we do not do vaccinations, we do not do immunization; we do basic medical checks and then offer medical materials to individuals that need them and it not by force.  You will be surprised that in this time and age when you have social media that not even a shadow of the called people dressed in military uniform were caught on camera, especially with everybody having a cell phone that has camera in it. Not even one school, not anywhere the same message, the same rumour that was heard in other states, but unfortunately was replicated here in Yenegoa, yesterday and caused a lot of apprehension but as leaders we must stay on the part of truth in making sure that the services that is expected of us is delivered to the people. That is the professional responsibility that we have to the community where we reside and so our business.”

NIGERIA DOESN’T NEED RESTRUCTURING – LAWAL KAITA...Read more below

Alhaji Lawal Kaita, former governor of Old Kaduna State whose tenure lasted just three months between October and December 1983 is one politician who does not sit on the fence on national issues. Having been around in politics for a long time, there is no gainsaying that he is one of the most respected voices in the Northern part of the country. Though a core believer in the unity of Nigeria, he does not pretend in defending the interest of the North. In 2011, for instance, when former President Goodluck Jonathan was warming up for the presidential election, the vocal politician who was then a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had cautioned that: “Anything short of a Northern President is tantamount to stealing our presidency. Jonathan has to go and he will go. Even if he uses his incumbency power to get his nomination on the platform of the PDP, he will be frustrated out…the North should not be blamed for the calamity that would befall Nigeria if Jonathan emerged as President.”

Currently, the elder statesman disagrees with the position of the Southern part of the country that Nigeria should be restructured. Among other issues in this interview with WILLY EYA, he was emphatic that Nigeria does not need any restructuring.

Nigeria recently clocked 57 years since her independence in 1960. As an elder statesman who has witnessed Nigeria literally grow from childhood to adulthood, if you sit down and reflect, what comes to your mind?

In the 57 years of her existence, Nigeria has progressed tremendously. We have improved and developed and we are among the leading nations in the world.

Accepted that Nigeria has recorded improvements in several areas, but are you not also worried with the level of challenges it has faced and it is still facing now?

The worst and troubling challenge that we have faced so far since independence was the Nigerian- Biafran civil war, which we fought with our blood and we crushed it. We are now 57 and we are facing a smaller challenge  from the same people, the Igbo again. We have faced so many apparent change of governments through coup d’états and we have survived all of them.

How do you feel that after 50 years of the civil war that agitations are still coming from the same people? Don’t you think that maybe the Nigerian state has not adequately addressed the problem which the Igbo have been agitating for?

I can say that a small minority within the Igbo feels marginalized in their own expectations of Nigeria. But we the majority of Nigerians do not think that the Igbo are marginalized. They are everywhere and are doing well in commerce, business and so on. They have no reason whatsoever to agitate; they are agitating for what?

What is dominating public discourse today is the issue of restructuring even though there is no consensus on whether the nation actually needs it at this point in time. There does not seem to be an agreement between the Southern part of the country and the North on this matter. What is your perspective of the argument?

My own position is that Nigeria does not need any restructuring. I do not think Nigeria needs any restructuring.

But having existed for 57 years, don’t you think it is high time the structure of the country is amended to suit the realities of the time considering that after all, the only thing permanent in life is change.

Tinkering with the constitution is not restructuring. It may be part of it, but you do not have to restructure Nigeria. And I ask you what is restructuring. If you say restructuring, what do you mean?

In Nigeria today, restructuring means different things to different people. To some, it is true federalism in terms of resource control. To others like the position of the South West, it is a return to full regionalism. The East is also calling for true federalism and so on. But the agreement in all of these perspectives is that something needs to be done to the present structure. Don’t you think so?

I was part of the constitutional conference where we advocated for the presidential system and we voted against the parliamentary system.

But don’t you think that Nigeria should be doing better than she is doing now?

That is another angle to the question and I am not prepared to discuss that.

Do you agree with those who insist that the North is reluctant to support the call for restructuring because they are benefitting from the existing structure?

No, how can I agree with that? What other benefits does the North get from the present structure that others are not getting? As far as I am concerned, the North is not benefitting anything. What is the North gaining?

A typical example is the skewed number of local governments in favour of the North where the old Kano State,which includes the present Kano and Jigawa has 77 local governments, whereas Lagos State with its population has only 20. Considering that the federal allocations are shared among the three tiers of government, don’t you agree that this structure unduly favours the North?

I was a governor of Kaduna State for three months and I created new local governments out of the existing 17 or so then. Why did the governor of Lagos not create more to the number he wants?

Even though Lagos created new local governments, they are not recognized by the constitution and so do not get any allocation from the Federal Government.

Why don’t they receive allocation and why are they not recognized by the constitution? The highest revenue earner is the federal government, Lagos and those states that produce the oil. They are the highest revenue earner. The North does not get much in terms of revenue allocation.

Your tenure as the civilian governor of Kaduna State was short-lived and just for three months following the coup by the then military government under President Muhammadu Buhari. What do you think was the effect of that coup to our democracy today?

Without the truncation of that republic, Nigeria would have been much better. If democracy was allowed to flourish from that time till now, Nigeria would have been better than it is now. Nigeria would not have been where it is today. I was a governor, but they removed us for nothing.

There is this argument, which comes up once in a while that the era of one united North is over. The validity of the argument finds expression in the ongoing debate for restructuring where the Middle Belt is aligning more with the South than with the core North. Will the North ever regain its unity like it used to be in the past?

The North cannot be as united as it used to be but the division is not as much as people talk about it. We in the North still understand one another very well.

Do you agree with the perception that the power elite in the North is too selfish considering the level of poverty in the region despite having dominated the nation’s leadership since independence?

I cannot say that and I do not believe what you are saying.

How do you compare the caliber of politicians of old and the ones we have today in terms of commitment to the public interest?

When you talk of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, they are much superior to the class of politicians we have today. Honestly, they are much better than us. You cannot compare Ahmadu Bello who ruled the whole North with the politicians of today. He died without anything. He had no money.

Calls for restructuring suspicious –Presidency...Click link below for details

The Presidency has described the call for restructuring Nigeria, particularly from those who were in power for 16 years as suspicious. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated this yesterday even as he said that the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was not opposed to restructuring but  is opposed to anything that will splinter the country.

Adesina spoke at the Change We Need Nigeria Initiative 8th Annual Lecture Series with the theme: Disintegration or Restructuring: Which Way Nigeria?

The presidential spokesman who described the theme of the lecture as timely, said  restructuring doesn’t necessarily need  to be accompanied with disintegration, noted that Nigeria has always restructured but has never led to the country falling apart.

Adesina said, “In the history of Nigeria there was a time where the various people and communities lived in this space that is today called Nigeria. And then the colonial masters came, formed what is called the northern protectorate, southern protectorate, that was restructuring of what has subsisted. And then in 1914 precisely, the northern and southern protectorates, were amalgamated into one country, that was another restructuring. Did it come with any saber-rattling or did it send the country into tailspin, no? And then we we got to a point that we had regionalism in the country, the regions were formed and we begin to grow, that was another restructuring, it happened almost naturally and each region began to work on its own pace.


“We will get to where we are going on restructuring and Nigeria remains one united indivisible entity. That is my thought. And from the first paper I have heard I know this issue will be dissected properly today and at the end we will come up with something that is pragmatic, something that is not emotive, something that is not knee jack, something that can take this issue and clamour for restructuring forward.”

But in his response, Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu who was represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Godwin Adindu, disagreed that restructuring was an opposition thing. He said, “restructuring is not an opposition thing, it is what we all need so that we can move the nation forward. Restructuring is not the demand of the opposition.”

The Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, also disagreed with Adesina that restructuring was an opposition thing. He insisted that Nigeria’s unity is negotiable warning that those kicking against it risk disintegration.

He said, “The unity of Nigeria can be negotiated. It is fallacy to say it can’t be negotiated. By restructuring we are saying Nigeria should move from money sharing economy to a productive economy. If we refuse to take this national course, I’m sorry to say time is running out of Nigeria.


“Let us restructure Nigeria now, return to the Nigeria our founding fathers initiated. Our best is in the past. Let us join hands to build a Nigeria that we will all be proud of.”

The guest lecturer, Dr. Cosmas Ilechukwu, said restructuring will be good for Nigeria. He said, “By restructuring I mean a reorganization of the governance structures of Nigeria to make it a more viable and more prosperous nation where the different nationalities will proudly call a home. Any construct that will occasion greater efficiency and economic viability will be okay. The six regional structures that seem to have gained reasonable mileage among a large segment of our population should be constitutionalized. I will support the call for a six-regional arrangement with some minor readjustments.”

Breaking: FG wants U.S, U.K, others designate IPOB terrorist group..Click below to read more

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called on Nigeria’s international partners to designate the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation.

The Minister made the call in his article, entitled ‘’Thwarting Terrorism in Nigeria’’, which appeared in the US newspaper ‘Washington Times’ on Thursday, 12th Oct. 2017. He argues that IPOB’s actions qualify the group as a terrorist organization in most jurisdictions.

On  Sept 20, 2017, the Federal Government of Nigeria proscribed IPOB, which has been agitating for a separate state in the South-East.

“The terrors lays bare their opportunism. They masquerade as a separatist movement, yet they endanger the very people they claim to represent. In reality, IPOB cares about IPOB and nothing more,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

Using the words of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, such as “If they fail to give us Biafra, Somalia will look like a paradise compared to what will happen to that ‘zoo’ (Nigeria).” “I don’t want peaceful actualisation (of Biafra)”; “We need guns and we need bullets”; “If they don’t (give us Biafra), they will die,” the Minister exposes IPOB as a terrorist organization like ETA in Spain, the Tamil Tigers was in Sri Lanka, and the PKK is in Turkey (all of whom are proscribed by the U.S. State Department).

He makes clear that this administration will not make the same mistake as the previous in allowing terrorists to capture any part of Nigeria.

“The government reiterates its appeal to its international partners to proscribe the organization, and in doing so, starve it of the funds which gives it sustenance. Nigeria has just defeated one preventable terrorist insurgency. This one must not be given the chance to get a foothold,” the Minister writes.

Breaking news: Military raid: Kanu’s father petitions UN, UK... Click below for detals

Lawyers to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), have petitioned the United Nations and the British government to prevail on the Federal Government to suspend alleged hostile activities towards the family house of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia State.

The petition, written by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on behalf of the IPOB leader’s father, Eze Israel Okwu-Kanu, also urged them to request the government to return without further ado, Kanu’s private property allegedly looted during the raid on October 8.

Dated October 12, 2017, and entitled “Re: Unlawful raids, intimidation and looting in the home of Nnamdi Kanu, by the Nigerian Military operatives and their Police counterparts, on October 8, 2017,” the petition alleged that Kanu’s home was invaded, and looted by rampaging security agents.

According to him, the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, which picked the horrendous raid, revealed the brazen looting and carting away of valuables and household equipment by the invaders.

Ejiofor said the raid lacked the backing and legitimacy of any known legislative enactment in the country, more so, when there were pending law suits, instituted at the Federal High Court Abuja, challenging, on the whole, “the initial murderous invasion of Nnamdi Kanu’s home by the Nigerian soldiers, his abduction from his home or his possible elimination by the rampaging troops, request for court order to compel the Nigerian Military to produce Nnamdi Kanu in court, and also lawsuit requesting the court to vacate the exparte order purportedly proscribing Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)  and their designation as a terrorist organisation.”

The lawyer, urged the British government to treat the said proscription of IPOB by government with greatest circumspection as the legality or otherwise of such exercise was already a subject of litigation.

Part of the petition reads:  “It cannot stand because the entire process culminating into the granting of the order is laden with high powered conspiracy, double standard, and bad faith. It is more so, when the order in question is now being challenged in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/871/2017, Attorney General of the Federation Vs Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and slated for hearing on October 23, 2017.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is under obligation to furnish the British Government with the particulars of Nnamdi Kanu’s current state. The question on Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts has continued to beg for an answer, which must be answered by the authority that invaded his home on September 14, 2017, and shot many unarmed and defenseless civilians dead, while many were abducted alive.

“The British Government is, therefore, most respectfully invited to prevail on the Nigerian Government to suspend further untoward activities in Nnamdi Kanu’s home, and to return without further ado, all his private property looted on October 8, 2017.

“It is our further prayers that the Nigerian government should be requested to produce our client’s son (Nnamdi Kanu), whose whereabouts could not be accounted for, after the murderous raid in his home on September 14, 2017 or release the corpse to our client for befitting burial, if he was killed in the murderous attack.”

He, however, commended the British Government in particular, and others, he called responsible foreign governments, for their uniform condemnation of the military onslaught in the South Eastern states, particularly the bloody raid on Nnamdi Kanu’s home, and proscription of IPOB.

Meanwhile, the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Anthony Michael Ogbizi, has insisted that the police will continue to visit the country home of the IPOB leader so long as they got intelligence reports that arms were being stockpiled there.

Reacting over a raid on Kanu’s home, last Sunday, the police boss explained that all items recovered there were itemised and marked as exhibits, denying that anything was stolen during the joint military/police operation there.