Politics
NGF Crisis: President Jonathan’s Costly Mistake.
The Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) has grown over the years to become a most potent pressure group comprising democratically elected governors in Nigeria.
Decisions from the forum had always been respected and celebrated across the broad spectrum of political leanings in the country and even outside Nigeria’s shores especially with some dynamic leaderships the forum had witnessed in times past.
Then things fell apart. Some aides and confidants of President Goodluck Jonathan impressed it upon him that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was not loyal to the President. That Rotimi was interested in becoming the Vice President on a joint ticket with Suleman Lamido of Jigawa State. That Amaechi has been disrespectful to the First Lady and so on……That the President must do something about Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the NGF that he was leading before both turned out to be the President’s albatross in the year 2015.
Many things were done and attempted to be done against Oluwarotimi. His Rivers State aircraft was grounded, attempted (real or imagined) were made to get him impeached. Governor Akpabio was brought in to head a newly created PDP Governor’s Forum and eventually Governor Rotimi Amaechi was suspended from the political party PDP where he was also a member of the National Working Committee.
Nevertheless, the NGF election was held; then Oluwarotimi scored 19 votes to beat sleeping Jonah Jacobite’s group who had 16 votes. Next was the unfortunate declaration by Jonah Jang that he won the election, his faction opened a new NGF office and visited Jonathan who received Jang and other Governors who had failed to impose Jang, the generally unacceptable leader of the NGF.
The NGF election was instructive in some many respects. It was conducted under a President who covertly was interested in the outcome. It was done by governors in Nigeria who have the electoral mandates and to a very large extent, the electoral minds of their people. The process, though democratic, the result was annulled, 20 years after M.K.O Abiola suffered the same fate.
Many Nigerian leaders are bad students of Nigeria’s Political History. President Jonathan shot himself in the leg and wounded the North more. Before the election, the leader of the Northern Governor’s Forum, Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu said emphatically that, Amaechi was their choice and that Jonathan agreed to a single term tenure with the North.
Predictably, what was the result of the 2015 Presidential Election, when Jonathan in PDP forced himself to contest? Obviously, it was 19 States against Jonathan’s 16 States, even if the APC, has not succeeded to gain more States and sitting Governors then. The question then was who are the people fooling the President? What and who will he use for re-election as President? Is it performance on power, security, the country’s corruption index, level of unemployment, Asari Dokunbo or Anenih who cannot win elections in their own States.
Moreover, the man who foisted him on Nigeria has said he had found a replacement after his (Jonathan’s mentor) heart in Lamido. Majority of Tambuwwal’s progressive members in the House of Representatives worked against Jonathan in 2015. While Ibrahim Babangida, Buhari, Tinubu, Okorocha, Kwankwaso and Wamakko openly opposed his ambition.
Whoever advised Jonathan to be interested in the NGF elections or to welcome Jang Caucus in Aso Rock did great damage to the goodluck of Mr. President. Like his predecessor Musa Yaradua was doing, he could have recognized the result of that election, congratulated Amaechi and let the sleeping dog lie.
The former President of Africa’s most populous country could state manly demystify the NGF, later, effectively, if he so wishes.
If the President observed, many of his aides did not defend the visit of Jang’s caucus to the President as they did not when he welcomed Nigerians into a new year with removal of fuel subsidy few years back.
Those Nigerians who Jonathan saw during those protests against the removal of oil subsidy in 2012 waited for the elections in 2015.
Jonathan could ask Babangida that if he had opportunity again, would he annul a validly conducted election in Nigeria or Obasanjo whether he would ever toy with the idea of third term agenda with Nigerians when they say no.
Jonathan finally got his rest after 2015 and Nigeria a change from Ebeleism. With patience, he had goodluck. If I were him then, I will start planning for rest before he was compulsorily rested. The massively angered Nigerians did not buy into the story that he “once had no shoes”.
And the resilience of Nigeria made it survive as a nation after the elections in 2015. Elections was held, it was successful in many parts of Nigeria. However, the sayings of the wise is relevant here “those who make peaceful change impossible, can make violent change inevitable”.
By Idowu Ayodele.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has criticized the alleged forceful conversion of public reading and learning facilities in Dugbe, Ibadan, into shopping malls and lock-up shops by the state government, describing the development as shameful, ill-conceived, and unacceptable.
In a statement released over the weekend by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the APC also raised concerns about the alleged sale of the modern motor park facility at Wema Area on New Ife Road, Ibadan, built during the administration of the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi.
According to the party, the motor park has been sold to a pastor who presides over a popular church near the facility.
Residents of Ibadan, the state capital, were reportedly stunned when they noticed the sudden erection of massive private business complexes within the premises of the Oyo State Library Board.
The facilities, built by the defunct Western Region government, had served as public libraries and archives for decades, benefitting students, researchers, and tourists until recently.
“It is a sad reality that the buildings which used to serve as public libraries and archives in Dugbe axis of Ibadan have now paved the way for the development of commercial and business structures,” Sadare said.
“The implication is that education and research development have been relegated to the background in the state by an administration that has done little to address the poor reading culture among young students.”
The APC expressed alarm over what it termed the erosion of public heritage under Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, alleging that public properties are being sold or leased to private individuals and groups under questionable circumstances.
“How can a government wake up one day and convert public reading facilities and archives into lock-up shops in the name of making money, thereby subjecting society to the dangers of illiteracy and ignorance?” the statement queried.
The party also cited other instances of alleged mismanagement of public assets, including the concession of OYSADEP Guest House in Saki and Agbowo Shopping Complex in Ibadan, warning that the trend poses a serious threat to the state’s socio-economic development.
“Sad enough, the ignoble activities of the governor and a few other characters around him as they involve mismanagement of land and other resources belonging to the state have paved the way for a surge in land grabbing cases in most parts of the state capital. There are many cases involving appointees of the governor, PDP lawmakers, local government officials, and party chieftains,” the statement added.
The APC called on well-meaning individuals and stakeholders in the state to demand accountability from the Makinde administration and halt what it described as the systematic erosion of public resources and heritage.
Over 300 constituents of Akinyele/Lagelu Federal Constituency in Oyo State benefitted from a skill acquisition and empowerment programme organized by their representative in the National Assembly, Hon. Akinmoyede Olafisoye.
The event, held at Faith Joe Event Centre, Alegongo, Akobo, Ibadan, aimed to address the challenges of unemployment and economic hardship by equipping participants with practical skills and financial support.
The programme focused on empowering youths, students, and unemployed graduates to become self-reliant. Each participant was provided with a certificate, a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, an umbrella, and ₦100,000 as a startup grant to kickstart their businesses.
The tools and financial aid were designed to enable beneficiaries to establish sustainable sources of income.
Participants received comprehensive training, gaining hands-on experience to ensure they could effectively utilize the tools provided. The POS machines were configured with the personal details of the recipients, ensuring proper use and discouraging unauthorized transfers.
Addressing the participants, Akinmoyede who is the Chairman House Committee on Nigeria/ Mexico Parliamentary Friendship enjoined the beneficiaries to explore the opportunity for their benefit by ensuring that they use the machines for the purpose it was meant for.
He added that all the machines have been configured with the documents of individual beneficiaries which will make it very difficult to transfer to another person.
In his goodwill message, the Oyo Central Senatorial chairman of APC, Hon. Joshua Oyebamiji said comparing what the lawmaker has been doing in the area of dishing out empowerment and palliatives to his constituents, it is difficult to tag him a first-timer at the national assembly.
While appreciating Akinmoyede for his gesture at the event, former APC Deputy State Chairman, Alhaji Isiaka Alimi, Hon. Fatai Awoyoola, and Hon. Akinbode Emmanuel said they were yet to discover the magic wand being used by the lawmaker for his constant and habitual empowerment programmes.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke at the end of the training, Afolabi Kuburat, Akinropo Akindotun, Ajala Abisade Iyabo, and Grace Anuoluwapo Ayinde lauded the lawmaker for giving them the opportunity to be self-reliant at this time when Nigerians are facing economic hardship.
The House of Representatives member representing Akinyele/Lagelu federal constituency Oyo State, Hon. Prince Akinmoyede Olafisoye Wasiu has initiated another skill acquisition and capacity-building training for no fewer than 300 members of his constituency.
The initiative which is being organized in partnership with Federal Cooperative College, Ibadan is part of a strategic effort by the lawmaker to foster rural development of cooperative for their economic emancipation and break the shackles of poverty so as to alleviate the impact of the high cost of living among the people in Akinyele/Lagelu federal constituency he represents.
The training programme is coming up on Monday 18th November, 2024 at Faith Joe Event Centre hall. Alegongo, Ibadan by 8.00am.
A statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media to the lawmaker, Alimi Abdullahi stated that the capacity-building is designed to equip participants with essential entrepreneurial skills with a view to building sustainable livelihoods and improve the quality of lives of the people of Akinyele/Lagelu federal constituency.
All the participants for the training are expected to be at the venue by 8am so as not to miss any part of the training.
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