I read Dr. Reuben Abati's article titled 'The Hypocrisy Of Yesterday's Men'' (3rd Feb.2013) which was published in virtually every newspaper in the country with amusement. He sought to ridicule and demean those of us that served President Olusegun Obasanjo's government and that are not very impressed with the performance of his boss. The fact that we asked President Goodluck Jonathan to account for the 67 billion USD that he squandered from our foreign reserves has clearly upset him. We dared to ask about the money and so we were singled out and targetted for a tongue-lashing and a long lecture from the Presidency
Vanguard, February 2, 2013
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
I think that it is a pity that President Goodluck Jonathan’s Government declined to take up the challenge of the former Minister of Education, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, to a public debate on the $67billion USD savings that President Obasanjo left behind in 2007. I do not think that our government ought to have run away from the debating ring. Government ought to have accepted the challenge of a rigorous public debate and allow the Nigerian people to listen to it and make up their own minds about who was right and who was wrong. I thought that the response of the Special Assistant to the President On Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, to Obiageli Ezekwesili was more logical and made far more sense than that of the Honorable Minister of Information, Labaran Maku’s, but I still believe that Ezekwesili was right. I believe that the government’s position on this issue and it’s attempt to over-aggressively defend what I personally consider to be the indefensible is not only disingenuous but it is also essentially dishonest and self-seeking.
I think that it is a pity that President Goodluck Jonathan's Government declined to take up the challenge of the former Minister of Education, Mrs.Obiageli Ezekwesile, to a public debate on the $67billion USD savings that President Obasanjo left behind in ...2007. I do not think that our government ought to have run away from the debating ring. They ought to have accepted the challenge of a rigorous public debate and allow the Nigerian people to listen to it and make up their own minds about who was right and who was wrong.
Once again we have witnessed yet another tragic air crash in our nation. And once again it has happened in the usual mysterious circumstances and with the usual attendant loss of life. This is so sad. There is so much death in this country. So many tears. So much evil. So much sadness and so many tragedies. So many shattered dreams, broken hearts and wounded souls. So much injustice and insensitivity. So much greed and want. So much bloodshed, blood-letting and blood-spilling.
Today our nation stands at a crossroad and it is left for us to decide which path we choose to take. Do we take the path of despair and dishonour and give up on our country? Or do we rise above it all and latch on to the promises of God for our land and for our people? With biting poverty, mounting hopelessness, a bleeding economy, youth restiveness, unprecedented violence, brazen acts of terror and all manner of vices and evil thriving in the land one wonders how things got so bad.
My prayers go to Nana Akuffo Addo in tomorrow's Presidential elections in Ghana. Nana is a great man and one of the most brilliant minds on the African continent. An Oxford University man and an outstanding lawyer, his father Justice Edward Akuffo Addo was ceremonial President and Chief Justice of Ghana many years ago. Quite apart from that Nana is my in-law as he was married to my older sister Remi for many years and they have two beautiful children between them.
Modern Ghana, November 19, 2012
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
During a live broadcast of the Presidential Media Chat to the nation on the evening of 18th November 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan said that the military operation in Odi by the Nigerian Armed Forces in 1999, which was ordered by President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not solve the problem or stop the killing of soldiers, policemen and innocent civilians in the Niger Delta area by the terrorists and militants.
Modern Ghana, November 16, 2012
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
Like everyone else in the country I was informed about the death of the Waziri of Ilorin, Dr. Olusola Saraki, on the morning that he passed on and the news saddened me immensly. This is because he was one of the greatest, kindest, most compassionate, most generous and most selfless leaders that we have ever had in this country. His power and influence stretched from the Second Republic when he was the Leader of the Senate on the platform of the NPN up until today. He made the dreams and aspirations of many come true and throughout his life he brought nothing but smiles to many faces. He was my late father's close and loyal friend and he was like a father to me and so many others. This is not a good time for him to go because Nigeria needs him now more than ever and we shall all miss him dearly. My heart goes out to the Saraki family. I mourn with them and I stand shoulder to shoulder with them today. Like the biblical David said about the passing of King Saul, I am constrained to say about the passing of the great Oloye Olusola Saraki, ''how are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished''.
The American Presidential election will take place in a few days time and frankly some questions still need to be answered. I wish that Governor Mitt Romney had put one of those questions particularly to President Barrack Hussein Obama during their last Presidential debate which was on foreign policy. Permit me to put that question here and it is as follows. Why did the President bow so low before Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah four years ago during his first state visit to the Arab Gulf state and why did he feel the need to almost touch his toes with his forehead when he did so. It is a matter of historical record that no American President in the last 200 years has ever bowed so low before any foreign leader, Prime Minister, Head of State, President or monarch.
Today is yet another sad day for our country Nigeria. This morning General Mohammadu Shuwa was murdered just outside his Maiduguri home by a group of heartless people who are suspected to be members of the muslim fundamentalist sect Boko Haram.
I am glad to hear that General Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the suggestion of Boko Haram to represent them in talks with the Federal Government. My confidence in and respect for the General remains intact and it is fair to say that since he has turned BH down he cannot possibly be described as its face.
”Igbo domination of Nigeria is only a matter of time’ ‘- Charles Onyeama, a prominent igbo lawyer and member of the Central Legislative Council, 1945. (Pg. 204 ”Ethnic Politics In Kenya and Nigeria” by Godfrey Mwakikagile).
”It would appear that the God of Africa has created the Igbo nation to lead the children of Africa from the bondage of ages ….” – Dr Azikiwe, President of the Pan-Igbo Federal Union. (The West African Pilot of July 8, 1949).
The first statement from Charles Onyeama, which was made in 1945, was the first overtly tribal and divisive comment that was made and recorded in the politics of southern Nigeria in our history. That is where and when tribalism in the south actually started. After that comment and as a direct reaction to it,