Why IPOB Fell Like A House Of Cards: Nnamdi Kanu’s Confessions By Churchill Okonkwo

Churchill OkonkwoChurchill Okonkwo

IPOB crumbled like cookies because it was anchored on deceit.

BY CHURCHILL OKONKWO    Nov 28, 2017

This is the confessions of a dangerous mind that lied, to tell the truth. Even though it is very dark where I am held against my wish, I saw IPOB shake and tremble, and then fall to pieces like a house of cards. By using IPOB to promote the divisive rhetoric of seductive but destructive whisper that is pushing Ndigbo to the false comfort zone of isolationism, I erred.

I scratched the itching eye with the piece of wood meant for scratching an itching ear. In my arrogance, I never imagined that should the Nigerian security operatives make a determined effort to extinguish me, the human rocks I had piled as a barrier around my father’s house would come tumbling down. The invasion of my father’s house by murderous Nigerian security operatives and the subsequent killing of many of my unarmed followers was an “aha” moment for me.  I feel sadness over the death of Umu Igbo in the quest for Biafra that should never have occurred.  I am confessing that IPOB’s foolhardiness led to their death.

In the words of wisdom from a great mind Albert Einstein, “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” I am confessing that IPOB’s absurdity has no limit.

We are like lepers whose hand Ndigbo shook and we overcome with excessive affection. Because Igbos honored the Biafran spirit and heroes and stayed home when we threatened them, we arrogated that honor to ourselves and got carried away.

After I recently disappeared into thin air, my comrades in IPOB, rather than change gear and save our fast depleting gunpowder, exhausted them in the false hope that they will stop the November 18th governorship election in Anambra State. The call for a boycott of that election finally exposed our dirty ass. The residual energies after my dramatic disappearance could not coalesce around the elusive goal of forcing Ndi Anambra to boycott the governorship election.

Suddenly, the almighty IPOB has crumbled like a cookie. Now, I have not only killed my obsession with breathless pursuit of an elusive Biafran goal, I have also left the beautiful mess IPOB, directionless. I guess that’s what happens when a headless ram like IPOB initiates a head fight with the bull, Nigerian military operatives.

Even in this present state of damped optimism, I don’t want any of the pro-Biafran independence agitators to lose their outrage over the state of affairs in Nigeria and Igbo land because, in outrage, there is hope. However, having observed the collapse of the move for independence even after a referendum by the Catalonians and Kurds in Spain and Iraq, respectively, I have concluded that one of the first steps to real liberation is not to build on lies and deceit.

IPOB crumbled like a cookie because it was anchored on deceit. Fiction is a deceit. IPOB’s promise of an independent state of Biafra is a fiction. My promise to Igbos who do not understand the political realities of Nigeria that Biafra is about to be actualized “now” was a deceit. Biafra that contemplates actualization through the derogation of every ethnicity in Nigeria in the 21st century is a deceit.

Yet, fooled with this incoherent rhetoric and false hope, my Igbo brothers favored this deceit. I was absolutely wrong about this deceit and I apologize to IPOB members, followers and supporters.  I erred by using the same rhetoric as that of the 1990s that led to civil war in Burundi and Rwanda, fueling passions that are always very difficult to extinguish.

IPOB fell like a pack of cards because I used a basket to collect water. Now, I have realized that mobilizing others requires that those doing the mobilization have their acts together, including, a sound strategy, and the right people in place. Despite the massive support garnered by IPOB in its quest for the actualization of the independent state of Biafra, the movement failed primarily because the mobilization was around elusive goals. Most importantly, IPOB failed because my leadership style can at best be characterized as braggadocio.

Looking back at my missteps in the past couple of years, I have realized that the mobilization by IPOB has been built on false hope, hence the inevitable failure. The truth is that propaganda on social media alone will not result in any lasting political gains. The more the incoherence of IPOB, MOSOB, BIM, Biafran Zionist, filters through, people get used to it and Igbo generations will waste their time on jamboree rather than constructive political engagement.

Thus the crux of this confession is to say that, what matters, in the end, is what is made out of the existing grievance and not the grievance itself. I have realized that if one shoots a lizard along his path as he climbs a zigzag tree, his supply of gunpowder will be exhausted. Please let us mobilize Ndigbo around a realistic goal rather than waste our gunpowder on social media.

Presently, there is a lull, except the familiar, though, damped misinformation by my IPOB Internet Soldiers. This is because there is still a vacuum, a big vacuum begging to be filled with reference to the mobilization of Igbo people around a vision that is in our best interest in Nigeria.

I am happy this time out in an unknown location has made me realize that at IPOB, we have our politics backward. Rather than overwhelming its adversaries, IPOB has been run aground by its own missteps. Our politics based on suspicion of other ethnic groups offered no answers to the cosmopolitan Nigeria with millions of Igbos in every corner working hard and earning a living.

From my unknown location and with my head cooling off now, it is so evident to me that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of our modus operandi is required. At this moment that IPOB have demonstrated its incapacity of sound strategy and reasoning, a new politics should arise in its place. It is my hope that this new politics will not be a complaint-based like IPOB, but rather, a Renaissance similar to Martin Luther King’s positive vision as articulated in “I have a dream” speech. Let this new Renaissance replace IPOB’s doomsday discourse with aspirational and future-oriented one.

Please use this confession going forward to affect the much needed new path to Igbo Renaissance. Our collective path forward as Ndigbo in these very troubled times depend on what we do next.

Merry Christmas in advance. I love you all

(This unendorsed, yet classic confession of Nnamdi Kanu was coded and transmitted from his unknown location but decrypted by my Biafran Spirit).

 

You can email Churchill at churchill.okonkwo@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi.

- SAHARA REPORTERS

MAINA TO BUHARI: I WILL GIVE YOU DOCUMENTS THAT WILL FETCH N3tn

The former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, has spoken out on the allegations of corruption levelled against him.

He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to allow him prove his innocence in the cases he is currently enmeshed in.

Maina made the call in an exclusive interview with Channels Television broadcast on Monday during its  News At 10 programme.

He said, “Thank God our President stands for the truth, the unfortunate thing is that some people around him whom he has given trust are lying to him; this one I can attest to and I can give you instances, I can give you documentary evidence,” Maina said.

“I’m appealing to you Mr President, there are so many things people are not telling you; when I get to that public hearing I will tell you some things that nobody ever told you Mr President because I never had the opportunity to sit down with you.”

Trouble started for Maina in 2015 when he was accused of being involved in a pensions fund fraud and later declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. His reinstatement in 2017  sparked criticism.

However, Maina who denied any involvement in the pension fraud claimed that his team, instead, recovered about N282billion for the government and that his life was in danger.

He said he was ready to prove to the President that he was innocent of the allegations against him by recovering N1trillion in three months if given the opportunity.

“I recovered money for the last administration and I recovered money for this administration. Most people may not understand this but let me explain this to Nigerians because I want the truth to be told and I want Nigerians to understand the truth and know what is going on in Nigeria.

“Listen, I am not afraid of anybody, I am saying the truth. People portray themselves as if they are saints around the President; it’s a lie, they are not. We recovered as a team, N282billion cash. Aside from the N282bn, we were able to bring information and caught 43 pension suspects.
“They have threatened me, they have threatened my lawyer, they have threatened my brother, sister; they have threatened us all that I will be killed.

“Mr President, I will give you information and documents that will fetch you over N3trillion now in Nigeria, give me nine months. Within the first three months, I will show you N1trillion just like I showed you N1trillion in this 2017,” he said.

OLD RUGGED CROSS - LYRICS BY BRAD PAISLEY

The Old Rugged Cross - By Brad Paisley -Lyrics

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suff'ring and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To pardon and sanctify me

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away
Where his glory forever I'll share

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

Songwriters: T Brown
The Old Rugged Cross lyrics

FULL TEXT OF ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBARKAR'S RESIGNATION LETTER FROM THE RULING APC

Statement of resignation of His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (Waziri Adamawa) Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007 from the All Progressives Congress

On the 19th of December, 2013, I received members of the All Progressives Congress at my house in Abuja. They had come to appeal to me to join their party after my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, had become factionalized as a result of the special convention of August 31, 2013.

The fractionalization of the Peoples Democratic Party on August 31, 2013 had left me in a situation where I was, with several other loyal party members, in limbo, not knowing which of the parallel executives of the party was the legitimate leadership.

It was under this cloud that members of the APC made the appeal to me to join their party, with the promise that the injustices and failure to abide by its own constitution which had dogged the then PDP, would not be replicated in the APC and with the assurance that the vision other founding fathers and I had for the PDP could be actualized through the All Progressives Congress.

It was on the basis of this invitation and the assurances made to me that I, being party-less at that time, due to the fractionalization of my party, accepted on February 2, 2014, the hand of fellowship given to me by the All Progressives Congress.

On that day, I said "it is the struggle for democracy and constitutionalism and service to my country and my people that are driving my choice and my decision" to accept the invitation to join the All Progressives Congress.

Like you, I said that because I believed that we had finally seen the beginnings of the rebirth of the new Nigeria of our dreams which would work for all of us, old and young.

However, events of the intervening years have shown that like any other human and like many other Nigerians, I was fallible.

While other parties have purged themselves of the arbitrariness and unconstitutionality that led to fractionalization, the All Progressives Congress has adopted those same practices and even gone beyond them to institute a regime of a draconian clampdown on all forms of democracy within the party and the government it produced.

Only last year, a governor produced by the party wrote a secret memorandum to the president which ended up being leaked. In that memo,  he admitted that the All Progressives Congress had "not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected overnight ‘change’ but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance".

Of the party itself, that same governor said "Mr. President, Sir Your relationship with the national leadership of the party, both the formal (NWC) and informal (Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso), and former Governors of ANPP, PDP (that joined us) and ACN, is perceived by most observers to be at best frosty. Many of them are aggrieved due to what they consider total absence of consultations with them on your part and those you have assigned such duties."

Since that memorandum was written up until today, nothing has been done to reverse the treatment meted out to those of us invited to join the All Progressives Congress on the strength of a promise that has proven to be false. If anything, those behaviours have actually worsened.

But more importantly, the party we put in place has failed and continues to fail our people, especially our young people. How can we have a federal cabinet without even one single youth.

A party that does not take the youth into account is a dying party. The future belongs to young people.

I admit that I and others who accepted the invitation to join the APC were eager to make positive changes for our country that we fell for a mirage. Can you blame us for wanting to put a speedy end to the sufferings of the masses of our people?

Be that as it may be, after due consultation with my God, my family, my supporters and the Nigerian people whom I meet in all walks of life, I, Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa, hereby tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress while I take time to ponder my future.

May God bless you and may God bless Nigeria.

Atiku Abubakar
Waziri Adamawa

LAGOS STATE GOVT GIVES MOSQUES, CHURCHES 90-DAY ULTIMATUM OVER NOISE POLLUTION

Worried by the proliferation of noise  in residential areas, the Lagos State government has handed down 90-day ultimatum to churches and mosques to sound-proof their premises or risk closure.

The section 9 of the law establishing Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) empowered the agency to make regulations on acceptable standards or criteria to control the pollution level of water, air, noise and land in consonance with the federal government guidelines and policies and criteria on the environment.

It however fixed the maximum permissible noise limit for mixed residential areas with some commercial and entertainment to 55 dba from 6-10pm and 45 dba from 10pm-6am.  Commissioner for environment, Dr. Samuel Adejare , who stated this at a parley with church representatives in Lagos warned that state’s zero tolerance to noise pollution was still in force.

He regretted the influx of religious centres in various residential areas in the state adding that the ultimatum was as a result of complaints by residents on the extent of noise in places of worship.

Adejare maintained that any noise above the approved noise levels contravened the provisions of the National Environmental Noise Standard and Controls regulations 2009 as well as the Lagos State Environmental Laws 2017.

He emphasised the need for places of worship to carry out their activities orderly without infringing on the rights of residents.

According to him, “The paramount commandment is to love God and love your neighbour as yourselves.”

The commissioner solicited the support of religious centres in adhering to government rules on noise levels adding that they were mandated to operate in an enclosed and soundproof environment using regulated speakers.

“Various structures ranging from residential plots, uncompleted buildings, open spaces, shops and motor parks are being converted to religious worship centres which is not befitting for a mega city like Lagos,” he concluded.

Source - 

http://leadership.ng/2017/11/21/lasg-gives-mosques-churches-90-day-ultimatum-noise-pollution/

Similarly, the Oyo State government, August, 2017, also gave a two-week ultimatum to churches, mosques, as well as clubs and restaurants to remove their outdoor speakers or face prosecution.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Isaac Ishola gave the ultimatum during an inter-ministerial press briefing in Ibadan, the state capital. He said the complaints and distress calls from residents made the ban necessary.

Ishola explained that the Oyo state government was committed to reducing the noise level in residential areas to 45 decibel at night and 60 decibel in the afternoon within five meters radius.

He also disclosed that some places of worship had been sealed up for noise pollution, while no fewer than 372 environmental offenders have been prosecuted in the last one year.

The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Mr. Toye Arulogun and other aides to the governor also attended the meeting.

Warning against noise pollution, he said religious activities should not be made to disturb others, adding that most of the complaints were against places of worship.

He said: “We are giving churches and mosques with external speakers two weeks to remove them. You don’t use religion to disturb others. I am a Christian and I have supervised the locking up of three churches for disturbing their neighbours with noise. If I can do that against churches I will do it against mosques and other places.”

The commissioner enjoined all owners of vehicles and motorcycles to take them for emission test at the offices of three consultants approved for the exercise.

He said: “If you own a vehicle, motorcycle or generator, it must be subjected to gaseous emission test. The essence is not to make money for government, but to control gaseous emission believed to be one of the major causes of cancer and other ailments. The ministry has two mobile courts that would sit during the day and we have arranged that magistrates courts should also try environmental offenders.”

The commissioner disclosed that the state had also approved additional 70 waste collectors, while a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed with West African Energy to convert waste to wealth in the state.

Can Rivers state do same???? 

ABBA - Chikichita Lyrics

"Chiquitita"

Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you've broken a feather
I hope we can patch it up together

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

So the walls came tumbling down
And your love's a blown out candle
All is gone and it seems too hard to handle
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
There is no way you can deny it
I see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

LAGOS BUS CONDUCTORS TO WEAR UNIFORMS FROM JANUARY 1 2018

 

The Bus Conductors Association of Nigeria says that its members in Lagos State will start wearing uniforms from Jan. 1, 2018 for security and effective service delivery.

The National President of the association, Mr Isreal Adeshola, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday.

Adeshola said the operational uniform would bring sanity to the service in the state and the country as a whole.

According to him, the association has started training its members in Lagos State and educating them on the job procedures and attitudinal change while on duty.

“The association has been able to train a reasonable number of conductors on behavioural change.

“We started the registrations and training at Lagos State Drivers Institute for attitudinal and change in orientation of the members toward passengers and traffic rules.

“By Jan.1, 2018, all our registered members will be in their operational uniforms for proper identification and effective service delivery,” he said.

The president explained that part of the reasons for training its members was to ensure adequate security of passengers and good customer relationship with the people they relate with.

He said that putting on uniforms with identification numbers would ensure accountability and brought sense of responsibility among the members.

Adeshola said that the association was working towards eradicating the menace of using under-age as bus conductors across the country.

He announced that persons from 18 years and above were qualified to join the association.

The president added that any minor found operating as a bus conductor should be arrested.

“We are coming out to tell Lagos residents that bus conducting is a respected profession like in other western countries where they are respected because they offered humanitarian services.

“In Nigeria, people see them as nobody which is not supposed to be so,” he said.

-NAN

http://punchng.com/lagos-bus-conductors-to-wear-uniforms-from-jan-1/