Obi and Nigeria’s cash-and-carry democracy

By Casmir Igbokwe

The refrain in town today is, anywhere Peter Obi goes; we will follow him. Another one says, “As it stands now in Nigeria, we have APC, PDP and PETER OBI. We have tried PDP, tried APC. It’s time to try PETER OBI…” These statements have great import. They mean that many Nigerians are tired of our cash-and-carry democracy. They show that people are weary of our leadership deficit. They want a genuine, positive change in the dwindling fortunes of the country. And they believe a Peter Obi presidency will engender all that.  

Until last Wednesday, Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was a leading presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He shocked Nigerians when he announced his resignation from the party and withdrawal from the presidential race. Initially, I felt uncomfortable with this move. But with hindsight, I think he took a wise decision.

It had become obvious to obi and many others that the PDP was bent on giving its presidential ticket to the highest bidder. The party has a subsisting rotation arrangement in its constitution. But it ditched it for pecuniary interests. Many of the aspirants moved round, doling out humongous amount of money to delegates.

It was also dollar rain at the primary election of the party held last Saturday in Abuja. Top spenders reportedly include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Each of the delegates was said to have smiled home with at least, $50,000.  At the end, the highest bidder, Atiku, emerged the winner after defeating 12 other candidates. He polled 371 votes while his closest challenger, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, polled 237 votes. Former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, got 70 votes to emerge third.  Tambuwal had stepped down for Atiku a few hours before voting. As it stands now, Wike may likely emerge as Atiku’s running mate.

Millions of Nigerians are currently disillusioned with this type of politics. They fear for the future of our children, the future of Nigeria. Currently, the situation of the country is dire. It requires redemption. Yesterday being May 29, 2022, Nigeria marked her 23 years of unbroken civilian rule. Our major achievement is that the military has not disrupted our transition from one civilian government to the other. Outside that, we have continued to move progressively down the ladder of democracy.

In the area of security, we have failed woefully. Kidnapping has become a very lucrative business. Travellers are usually the major victims. Weeks after the abduction of some passengers from Abuja to Kaduna train, many of them are still in captivity and risk being killed soon. The terrorists made certain demands from the government and the government is yet to meet them.

On May 15, 2022, a serving lawmaker representing Aguata II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Okey Okoye, and his aide, Mr. Ulaevuchukwu  Chiegboka, were abducted and slaughtered like goats. A sad Governor Chukwuma Soludo imposed curfew on eight local government areas and placed a N10 million bounty on the head of the killers. This has not stopped the gunmen from their murderous activities. There are many other examples of heinous crime in Nigeria. Simply put, life has become meaningless and valueless in the country.

In the area of the economy, we have not fared better as well. Do we talk about the debt trap which has progressively risen from N21.725 trillion in 2017 to N39.55 trillion as at December 2021? The Debt Management Office (DMO) says the debt will likely get to N45 trillion in 2022. Do we talk about rising inflation, unemployment and poverty? Almost on a daily basis, prices of essential commodities keep rising. A 12.5KG of cooking gas which sold for between N3,000 and N4,000 a few years ago now sells for between N9,000 and N10,000. Prices of staples like rice have gone beyond the reach of average Nigerians. A 50KG bag of rice which sold for between N7,000 and N8,000 in 2015 now sells for between N25,000 and N30,000. And this is in a country where the minimum wage is N30,000.  Do we talk about the exchange rate, which has gone from about N199 to a dollar in May 2015 to about N600 to a dollar today?

Do we talk about the worsening electric power supply? These days, what the electricity distribution companies do is to flash light to consumers. In many parts of Lagos where I live, light does not last beyond five minutes most times. Many companies which depend on diesel to power their machinery are closing shop because the cost of that commodity is something else. The cost of aviation fuel is threatening the business of the airlines.

Do we talk about corruption? Rather than improve on our fight against the monster, we have continued to score low marks on corruption perception index. Recently, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, was arrested for alleged N80 billion fraud. The trending news a few days ago is that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the Accountant General of Rivers State, Fubara Siminayi, and 58 others wanted for N435billion fraud. Surprisingly, this same Fubara has just emerged the PDP governorship candidate for Rivers State.

It is quite disturbing that we have moved on as if nothing is amiss. Now that the PDP has had its presidential primary election, let’s see how that of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will turn out on June 6. The APC charged N100 million for the nomination and expression of interest forms for this position. The PDP charged N40 million. What this means is that many sound, credible candidates will never make it. I don’t know how many Nigerians who can afford this money from their legitimate earnings.

Honestly speaking, we cannot continue to sit on the fence anymore. We need to identify credible candidates in some political parties and support them, the dollar rain in APC and PDP notwithstanding. This is what the Peter Obi movement is all about. His supporters organized one-million-man march in different states of the federation recently to preach the Obi gospel. They also pushed him to dump the PDP and join the Labour Party to actualize this ambition.

Obi’s gospel is prudence. It is transparency. It is accountability. He proved his worth as governor of Anambra State between 2006 and 2014. He touched many areas of life, carried out many developmental projects and still left behind N75 billion for his successor. This is unprecedented in the history of this country. In sane environments, the system throws up people like him to move the society forward. But here, such people are muscled out of the scene. This is the narrative some concerned Nigerians want to change.

Whatever anybody says or believes, Nigeria needs Obi to curb profligacy in government; to move the country from consumption to production. We need him to curtail insecurity in the country; to tame corruption in high places; and to bring genuine unity among the peoples of Nigeria. Above all, if we must combat leadership deficit, which has been the bane of Nigeria, then we must be ready to follow Peter Obi anywhere he goes.  

Re: Deborah: Crossing the red line of impunity

Casmir, with the latest, illegitimate killing of ‘our beloved Deborah’ on the altar of an unjustifiable claim of blasphemy, some ‘disgruntled elements’ in the north have arrogated unto themselves ‘the power of life & death’! They have now become a ‘law unto themselves, running a ‘parallel government’. We demand that President Buhari and Governor Tambuwal should bring her killers to justice. I foresee a ‘war of Armageddon’, should government fail to nip ‘these callous acts’ in the bud. Christians are getting fed up of ‘turning the other cheek’. Why an average Muslim in the south behaves better than those in the north beats my imagination! Why is it that ‘only 2 people’ have been arrested till date? I have reported the matter to the ’24 elders in heaven’. According to the lord of host, those who took part in the killing will end up like the biblical Cain. They burnt her terrestrial body but she will receive a ‘new celestial body’ when raptured. To her parents, I say take heart. God will fight for you and you will hold your peace IJN.

-Mike, Mushin Lagos, +2348161114572

Dear Casy, religion of whatever denomination, for all I know, preaches righteousness, love, peace, harmony, humility and tolerance. Anything short of the above-mentioned and extends to taking human life, as in the case of Deborah Yakubu Samuel, amounts to taking religion from the corridor of decency into the cauldron of religious bigotry, nay religious extremism and impunity and should be treated accordingly within the ambit of the law. The killing of the poor, hapless Deborah didn’t happen in a flash. It was a mob action that took some time and must have, in the process, created some pandemonium! What did the school authority do at that point in time to save the girl’s life? Nothing! In this wise, CAN should rise beyond the razzmatazz of carrying placards and warming the streets in the name of peaceful protests and take decisive legal action against the school authority, the culprits and Sokoto State Government as joinder. This is, also, a wake-up call to Human Right lawyers! 

-Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731.

So sad indeed that one’s life can be so needlessly terminated in a society that is governed by law! Deborah’s issue and other extreme acts chronicled by you can only be carried out by the undisciplined fundamentalists whose belief is firmly founded on non-existent rewards by Allah. The saddest thing about these acts of religious intolerance is why government in spite of  the  recurring madness always looks the other way. Like the past experiences, the Deborah’s case after a few days of condemnation will also be consigned to the dustbin of history.

-Edet Essien Esq. 08037952470

Dear Casmir, I am a Christian but Mohammed is someone I’ve learned to admire right from my history classes in secondary School. He never killed anybody that worshiped the same God he served no matter his or her religion. He lived in peace with Christians because it was Syrian monks that spotted him a prophet. It was pagans he fought in reprisal and not as offender. Islamic leaders after him were those that launched Jihad against Christians. It’s not late to repeal. May the soul of Deborah rest in perfect peace.

– Cletus Frenchman Enugu, +234 909 538 5215

I was in my home town last year, a Muslim shoe maker came to the front of my father’s house, washed his leg and hand, climbed up to main front of my senior sister’s shop and prayed. After praying, he told me thank you sir. I also thanked him too. My question is, can a Christian man or woman do that in a core northern state? The blood of Deborah will continue to haunt them; they will never know peace in their life again. 

-Anonymous, +2348055358974

Police force should ensure that those who killed Deborah are arrested and prosecuted as a deterrence to others who may engage in the same act in future.

-Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, +2348062887535           

Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, May 30, 2022

Deborah: Crossing the red line of impunity

By Casmir Igbokwe

Amid the uproar over the recent killing of Miss Deborah Yakubu, the Imam of the National Mosque, Abuja, Ibrahim Maqari, reportedly said that Muslims had some red lines, which must not be crossed. To him, the dignity of the Prophet is at the forefront of the red lines. Apparently, the Imam justified the killing of Deborah, who was a 200 level student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto. She was alleged to have committed the sin of blasphemy against Prophet Mohammad. All she reportedly did was to admonish her classmates to stop posting religious and non-academic material on their class Whatsapp platform. And without considering the bond that bound them together as classmates, these accusers, prosecutors, judges and executioners stoned the young lady to death. To further punish her, they heaped tyres on the lifeless body and set it ablaze.

I am pained by this act of insanity. I am more pained that the perpetrators of this barbarism are students of a higher institution who are supposed to be enlightened. And for an Imam to justify it shows how we have deeply debased life in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, some Muslims see the voices that spoke against the killing as infidels. That is why the lynch mob almost destroyed the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar. The Sultan, who is the head of Muslims in Nigeria, condemned the killing just as President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto and an Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi. As Gumi said, Prophet Mohammad never killed anyone despite the fact that he was insulted many times. According to him, whoever kills a non-Muslim, who they have agreed to live peacefully with, will never smell the fragrance of Paradise for 40 years.

The President of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria and an Islamic Law lecturer at the University of Ilorin, Professor Ibrahim Abikan, toed the same line. According to him, mob action is criminal in Islam. In an interview with The Punch, Professor Abikan said Deborah’s killing “is the worst barbaric act that can be carried out by any set of people in the country. It is barbaric and un-Islamic. It is against the tenet of the teachings of any religion in the world.” He said under Islamic law, every accused person must be tried in due process and no individual had the power or prerogative to declare a statement blasphemous.

A typical example was the sentencing of nine people to death for blasphemy in 2015 by an Islamic Court in Kano. A similar death sentence was handed over to a gospel musician, Yahya Sharif-Aminu, in 2020 by an Islamic Court in Kano for blasphemy. However, Sharif-Aminu’s case was sent back for retrial by the high court. In these cases, the rule of Islamic law was followed and there was no need for jungle justice. The propriety or otherwise of the judgement is another thing entirely.

Killing in the name of God has persisted in Nigeria because no one has received adequate punishment for it. When some misguided fundamentalists invaded the police cell where Igbo trader, Gideon Akaluka, was detained and beheaded him in December 1994, we chuckled but did nothing. With impunity, the lynch mob paraded his severed head across Kano metropolis, and we moved on as if nothing happened. Akaluka’s sin was that his wife allegedly used some pages of Koran as toilet paper to clean her baby. This turned out to be false.

In 2007, a student accused a schoolteacher, Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, who was invigilating in an exam in Gombe State, of desecrating the Koran. Immediately the student raised the alarm, Oluwatoyin was sentenced to death by the mob. They pursued her while trying to escape, caught her and lynched her. Sixteen suspects were eventually arrested for this jungle justice. They were later released without charge.

In 2002, there was to be a Miss World Beauty Pageant in Abuja. A reporter with ThisDay newspaper, Isioma Daniel, wrote something that was considered blasphemous against Prophet Mohammad. A fatwa was pronounced on the reporter. The riots that broke out in some parts of the North claimed the lives of over 250 people. Till date, nobody has been made to pay for this.

I doubt if there will be diligent prosecution of the current case in Sokoto. The police have arraigned two people and declared others wanted. Already, there are fears that these suspects may escape justice. The same mob went on the rampage on hearing that two people had been arrested. While demanding the release of their colleagues, they attacked churches and looted some shops belonging mainly to the Igbo.

It is regrettable that security agents failed Deborah and invariably failed the nation. When the storm was gathering, conscientious law enforcement agents should have quickly intervened and smuggled the young lady out of harm’s way. To me, the explanation of Governor Tambuwal of Sokoto that the mob overpowered security agents does not hold water. They took a belated action and we are now reaping the consequences.

It is pertinent to note that killing in the name of God is not peculiar to Nigeria. In 2012, a crude video that ridicules Prophet Mohammad surfaced on the YouTube channel. It emanated from the United States of America (USA). The Muslim world erupted in anger. The US Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were consequently killed in Benghazi. There were attacks in foreign embassies in different parts of Asia, Africa and Middle East.

In 2005, a Danish magazine, Jyllands-Posten, published a cartoon considered blasphemous against Mohammad. Over 50 people were killed in some parts of the world. In Nigeria, attackers killed about 16 people and destroyed some property, including churches, shops and homes. And this was something that had nothing to do with Nigeria.

Jungle justice will never stop in Nigeria until the authorities take a decisive action against it. No law, including sharia law, condones taking another person’s life unjustly. Hence, whoever is found culpable in taking the life of Deborah, or any other person for that matter, must be made to face the full wrath of the law. May the soul of Deborah and the souls of all those killed unjustly in Nigeria rest in peace.

Re: PDP, zoning and ‘zurugede’ dancers of 2023

Dear Casy, if Federal Character, as enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution, being the grundnorm, hereinafter referred to as zoning by political parties, has benefited other zones, why should it not go round, this time, to the Southeast in 2023, as deserved, before the talk of jettisoning it can make meaning? The truth is that some political Heavy Weights who are battling with age and time vis-a-vis their political ambition, being desperate to update their CV of adding one-time President of Nigeria to their Profile, are mounting untold pressure on their Parties to send zoning to the cemetery so as to have their ambition actualized. What the desperados are oblivious of is that as they mindlessly march, with their political jackboots, in a cavalier manner, on the heart of the Southeast in this zoning issue, with so much swagger and hubris, they should be reminded that they are poking their filthy fingers into the eyes of God!

-Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731.

What is the use of Gov. Ortom’s National Zoning Committee when presidential forms have already been sold to some serial presidential aspirants of Northern descent? The Committee is a smokescreen meant to hoodwink those who care to believe them. For how long will the South remain in this giver/beggar relationship? Nothing – not even the North’s purported population stunt – makes the North impregnable! The only perennial problem of the South is the age-long disunity, particularly the South West/South East opposing directions. Why can’t the South form a common front whereby its presidential slot is strictly zoned round the South-East, South-West and South-South sub-regions? An implementation of this lofty platform will certainly put the North in check.

-Edet Essien Esq. Cal. South, 08037952470

Every game PDP is playing to stop southeast zone from picking presidential ticket at its convention will be the end of PDP in southeast region.

-Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, +2348062887535

Casmir, the 1st priority of any political party is to capture power! In the course of doing this, there are often lots of intrigues, up and down like in a game of chess. PDP doesn’t want to add another 8 years of southern presidency to the 14years of Obasanjo and Jonathan combined, totalling 22 years – should they win in 2023. When are they going to make up the deficit of 22 years minus 2 years of Yar’ Adua’s rule equalling 20 years? Throwing it open is a fair decision for the fact that Buhari, a northerner, is about to complete 8 years in office. The last president through PDP was from the south and the ratio is now 2:1 in favour of the south. South-East is neither here (in PDP) nor there (in APC) because of the wrong voting tendencies or political moves of 2015 and 2019 in particular. They kept voting on sentiments rather than being objective and with an eye on the permutations, calculations and ‘foresight’ for 2023. The chickens have come home to roost now!

-Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +2348161114572

I don’t know why a people that have given so much to PDP from 1999 till date should be struggling for the number one spot? Was Alex Ekwueme not the arrowhead of the formation of PDP? The first round of injustice took place in 1983 when the military wing of NPN took over power from its civilian wing. Ekwueme’s presidential bid suffered a fatal blow. In 1999 there was yet another gang-up against Ekwueme while Obasanjo who had no business assuming the presidential seat was brought in as an appeasement for Abiola’s well merited mandate. Ekwueme’s injustice was the first: that ought to have been addressed first but the daylight robbery of Abiola’s sacred mandate was the immediate catalyst that brought about Obasanjo’s second coming which we are reportedly told he was also eyeing a tenure extension because of the allure of the presidential seat. Nigeria’s coexistence is founded on fraud. If this fraud persists, either by accident or design we shall, some day, go our separate ways.

-Ediye James, +2348108095633

Dear Casmir, if the presidency eludes the South-East in 2023, the region must have to restrategise. Firstly, her youths should find a way of handling their clergy and clerics who sell their birthright to other lands and faith. They know them and it’s for the sake of greed and love of money. Then their citizens should unite and learn to be on their own anywhere they are especially within Nigeria.

– Cletus Frenchman, Enugu, +234 909 538 5215

Throwing presidential race open by PDP is tactical and strategic conspiracy and gang-up against the South East. Zoning has been in practice since 1999. It is now that PDP is supposed to micro-zone the presidential race to south east that she has backed out of zoning. Injustice! Let’s wait and see how things will go.

-Anonymous, +2348036833255

• Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, May 23, 2022.

PDP, zoning and ‘surugede’ dancers of 2023

By Casmir Igbokwe

An Igbo adage says a child who dances melodious ‘surugede’ does not know that ‘surugede’ is a song of the spirits. The road to 2023 general election is filled with many ‘surugede’ dancers. But, in a bid to out-dance one another, they fail to realize that those beating the drums for them in the bush are possessed by the spirit of greed and catastrophe.

Take the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for instance. Here is a party which ruled Nigeria for 16 years. For those 16 years, the South-East was solidly behind it. In fact, the region played a major role in the formation of the party. Somebody like the former vice-president, the late Dr Alex Ekwueme, had to even relinquish his ambition to be president so that the South-West could be assuaged for the injustice done to the region with the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election presumably won by the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

Even in the last general election, the people of the South-East stood behind the PDP despite all odds. For this reason, they have faced different kinds of marginalization and exclusion.

Today, when the PDP is supposed to pay back, it started playing Russian roulette with the zone. Last Wednesday, May 11, the party jettisoned zoning and threw its presidential race open. According to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, it took this action in conformity with the recommendation of its National Zoning Committee. The committee, led by Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, had recommended that the presidential race be left open.

The PDP stand has riled many individuals and groups. The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) said the PDP had dug its own grave. Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, noted that the opposition party’s action was the height of deception and treachery.

The party had maintained the principle of zoning to give every section of the country a sense of belonging. It is even enshrined in its constitution. That was why the late President Umaru Yar’Adua from the North-West took over from former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West when the latter completed his tenure in 2007. When Yar’Adua died in 2010, his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the South-South, succeeded him. After Jonathan, the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, who is also from the North-West, ascended the mantle of leadership. All these were in line with the zoning principle in practice in both the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The year 2023 is supposed to be that of the South-East, having not produced the president since the advent of this democratic dispensation in 1999. Even before 1999, the South-East has suffered marginalization in leadership circles. The North has always dominated in leadership at the centre.

Based on this fact, some patriotic and honest elder statesmen advised that the South-East be allowed to produce the president in 2023 for the sake of equity, fairness and justice. They include the leader of the Yoruba Socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo; the leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark; elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai among others.

Pa Adebanjo put it this way: “When it is now the turn of the South and the South-East, they are now propounding a new theory – the question of merit. If it was based on merit, till today, till thy kingdom come, the East alone will produce president.”

Warning that there might be no Nigeria without zoning in 2023, Chief Clark said on Arise Television recently: “Nigeria stood on three legs, and it has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the civil war. If zoning which will heal the wounds is not done, there will be no Nigeria. Nobody will remain in this country as a second-class citizen.  The North believes their population can be used to oppress other Nigerians. This is not acceptable. The era of that has gone. There are many good northerners but the Fulani-oriented ones want to dominate everywhere.”

The President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, spoke in the same vein. According to him, “Nigeria cannot be a stable and prosperous country if some of its constituent parts behave as if they were the natural masters of everyone and that everyone else exists at their pleasure and to serve them.”

Unfortunately, these voices of reason and selflessness have been drowned in the ocean of selfishness. Some northerners who had profited from the zoning arrangement and who had threatened fire and brimstone when there were attempts to compromise that principle have turned 360 degree against zoning. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had warned in 2010 that the PDP should jettison zoning at its own peril. Now, people like him have pressurized the opposition party to throw its presidential contest open so they can also participate.

Even in the ruling party, some selfish interests in the North are scheming to foist former President Jonathan as a candidate. Without his knowledge, as he claimed, some pastoralists bought the APC’s N100 million Presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for him. Here is someone the North seriously opposed in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election and variously described him as clueless, weak, and incompetent. The interest of those urging him to run for the president now is principally to use him to stop the South-East from getting close to the seat of power. They know that Jonathan can only rule for one term if he wins. If that happens, the North will come back to rule for another eight years.

Who is fooling whom? The framers of our constitution were not stupid when they included Section 14(3) which is on the federal character principle in the 1999 Constitution. In doing that, they realized that Nigeria is a heterogeneous society where equity, fairness and justice must be entrenched to engender peace and unity. The quota system in our school system is part of this conscious effort to carry every section of the country along in our developmental journey. Rotating or sharing political offices is part of this principle.

Today, this system is in danger. If the South-East is denied the opportunity to produce the president in 2023, that will be the collapse of zoning as we know it. The consequences will be catastrophic.

One, the agitation in the South-East will heighten. Government has only succeeded in banning the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on paper. In reality, the organization is still a potent force in the region. There are some other variegated groups claiming to be fighting for the emancipation of the people of the South-East. Unknown gunmen are some of them. They have been killing security agents in the region without much challenge from any quarter.

Two, there may not be any election in the region if there is no South-Easterner contesting as a presidential candidate in any of the major parties. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has hinted at this possibility. Those who think this poses no threat to the country should have a rethink. If a significant section of the country boycotts election, it will send a very bad signal to the international community. Investors will never come in such a situation and the country may become ungovernable.

Two legal luminaries, Afe Babalola and Robert Clarke, may have anticipated this scenario when they advocated interim government and extension of the tenure of the present administration by six months respectively. While Babalola proposed setting up an interim national government to address some issues affecting Nigeria, Clarke proposed that Buhari’s tenure be extended to enable him to tackle insecurity before conducting election in 2023. Even though their propositions are distasteful, they are a sign that all is not well with our country and its transition programme.

The year 2023 will be a defining one for Nigeria. I had said it before and it is worth repeating that the 2023 presidential slot should be ceded to the South-East. It is the only major region that is yet to occupy the seat of power at the centre. The South-West has done two terms of eight years and is currently doing two terms of another eight years as vice-president. Anyone from that zone aspiring to be president in 2023 does not love this country. Any northerner angling to be president after Buhari in 2023 does not want peace in Nigeria. Such people are the ‘surugede’ dancers. And their dance steps portend serious danger to the survival of this country.

Re: Flying to heaven at a discount

Casmir, ‘the ignoramus’ are obviously looking for short cuts to heaven despite the scriptures making it clear that all we need is to be ‘genuinely born again’ and to wait for ‘the hope of our calling’- Jesus.  No man knows the hour that rapture would occur in which the saints would be ‘caught up in the air with Christ’ and the dead would rise from their sleep. Only the father knows the time! We are certainly in the end time. The bible states that the likes of Pastor Abraham would manifest and exploit ‘the mugus’ amongst us. Disaster awaits those who take the words of these supposedly men of God hook, line and sinker. Pastor Abraham wants to satisfy his belly and enrich himself. They are looking onto him rather than ‘look into the word and onto Jesus’ – who is ‘the author and the finisher of our faith’. The wrath of God awaits him on the day of judgement when the sheep would be separated from goats like him. I cry Abba father over all reprobate souls like him who refuse to genuinely repent IJN!

-Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +2348161114572 

Bible made us to understand that judgement will start from the pulpit because of so many evil our so-called pastors always commit to make money. l believe the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria have roles to play in order to cleanse our Christendom before so-called pastors destroy it. How can a pastor charge members to pay money for their journey to heaven? Where did God tell him to charge members?

-Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, +2348062887535

• Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, May 16, 2022.

Flying to heaven at great discount

By Casmir Igbokwe

The latest evidence of tomfoolery associated with strange beliefs is the reported action of some followers of a certain Pastor Noah Ade Abraham of the Christ High Commission Ministry also known as Royal Christ Assembly, in Ekiti State. According to reports, the Pastor asked his followers to pay N310,000 if they were interested in flying to heaven with him after rapture. He reportedly claimed he got the authority from God to do what he did and that he also did it because he noticed that his members’ troubles were increasing. Their take-off point will be the church premises in Omuo-Oke Ekiti in Ekiti-East Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Abraham reportedly started his church from Kabba in Kogi State in 2019. He was said to have moved to Kaduna and from there to Ekiti State. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, has denied the man though. The CAN Chairman, Rev. Joseph Hayab, said though Abraham’s offer of a ticket to heaven was cheaper than the ransom Kaduna bandits asked from their victims, CAN had not found anyone who knew the location of the church in Kaduna.

Already, the pastor reportedly kept about 40 people in the church in preparation for the rapture. Some of his followers have allegedly sold their belongings, waiting for the day Jesus will come and take them to heaven.

I don’t know if there is any first class section in this particular flight to heaven. But what I know is that the amount of money charged for this trip is very competitive. You can’t find it cheaper anywhere. Flying from one country to another doesn’t come cheap how much more going to a place like heaven, the ultimate destination. I also suspect that passengers who may have fully booked this flight will enjoy the best of in-flight menu. Amala and ewedu soup will be an appetizer. The Ekiti State police command has since taken Abraham to court for false pretense and intent to defraud. A Chief Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti granted him bail and adjourned the matter to May 24 for mention.

Pastor Abraham is not alone in this type of perfidious act. Recall that on November 18, 1978, over 900 followers of a certain Jim Jones, who was the leader of a California-based church/cult named Peoples Temple, committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jones had moved with many of his followers to Guyana in 1977 when the media began to ask questions about his operations in California. He was said to have often humiliated, beaten and brainwashed his members into signing over their possessions to his church. A large percentage of his followers were African Americans.

Things turned awry when, on November 17, 1978, a United States Congressman, Leo Ryan, travelled to Jonestown to investigate certain allegations of abuses against Jones and his followers. The following day, Ryan and his entourage were to return to the United States. But they were attacked by Temple members at the airstrip from where they were to depart. Five people, including Ryan and three journalists, were killed in that attack. Shortly after this, Jones activated his suicide plan by asking members to drink cyanide-laced beverage. They obeyed him and the rest is now history. Jones himself was said to have died of a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head.

In one of my interventions on this page earlier this year, I did mention some other strange things people do in the name of God. In South Africa, for instance, a certain pastor, in 2014, asked his congregants to feed on grass; and that it was a way of bringing them closer to God. They blindly did as directed. Another South African self-styled prophet, Paseka Motsoeneng, had once claimed to have taken a tour of heaven where he took pictures with his smart phone. To see the pictures, his church members were required to pay some huge sums of money.

In Islam, some people chant Allahu Akbar (God is great) while committing all manner of atrocities. Terrorists who kidnap, torture and kill innocent people chant it while committing their evil act. To them, even if they die in the process, they are heaven bound and God will reward them with plenty of virgins.

In traditional religion, some native doctors deceive gullible people with fake charms some of which, they believe, have the power to even transform them to cockroaches in the face of danger. It was this strong belief in the efficacy of our charms that prompted former President Olusegun Obasanjo to advocate using African juju to fight white supremacists in the heyday of apartheid in South Africa. I wouldn’t know why Obasanjo’s hypothesis was not followed through. All I know is that apartheid crumbled because of some powers outside our juju firepower.

Africa is not called the Dark Continent for nothing. In Europe, America and even Asia, most people use their talents to create and invent things that positively transform their societies. When mobile telephone came to Nigeria in 2001, Nokia 3310 was the rave in town. Today, that phone is only good for the museum. Even before the advent of mobile telephone, we were all used to going to Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) offices to queue up just to make telephone calls. Technology has changed all that. Soon, electric cars will displace fuel guzzlers we currently parade around as wonders on wheels.

Nigeria and indeed Africa will remain backward if we don’t change our mindset. I have come to realize that this thing called common sense is not common after all. For anybody to believe, no matter the level of indoctrination, that he can be taken to heaven with some wads of Naira means we still have a long way to go. It calls for serious introspection among our people. Perhaps, before anybody establishes any church or mosque and calls himself pastor or imam, such a person needs to be subjected to psychological test to ascertain his state of well-being physically and spiritually. We can never move forward as a nation if we continue to harbour such charlatans in our republic.

A poser to Anambra police command

On March 15, 2022, one Dubem Okonkwo (45), a member of Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Awka Branch, was reportedly arrested by the police at Unizik junction park, Awka. Later, the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Eworo Echeng, was said to have paraded Okonkwo with some other suspects. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ikenga Toochukwu, had released a statement indicating that a cult group had launched an attack on Unizik vilgilante group at Miracle Junction, Awka. He said police operatives succeeded in demobilizing the gang and recovering a cache of weapons, including two AK-47 rifles earlier stolen from the two policemen murdered on December 14, 2021.

Since this arrest and parade, the story has become twisted. Okonkwo’s wife, Ebere Okonkwo (28), told a national newspaper that she was yet to see her husband. Every effort of the woman and her family to trace Dubem has not yielded any fruit. She said the police told her that her husband was a suspected informant to cultists. The Police PRO had directed her to the defunct Awkuzu Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on several occasions, but she and her lawyers were denied access. They went to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), but no clue of the man there. The family, through their lawyer, also wrote to Echeng, requesting to see the detainee. But all to no avail. Mrs. Okonkwo has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector-General of Police and good spirited Nigerians to help her and her little daughter to locate her husband again. The family is planning to approach the court soon.  Could this be another case of extra-judicial killing? The Anambra State Police Command should help in resolving this riddle by producing the detainee dead or alive.

Re: APC’s N100m presidential ransom

Dear Casy, Eleanor Roosevelt once said and I quote: “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” To use your head refers to being sensible, being of deep thoughts about the implications of your actions or inactions to yourself. To use your heart refers to being considerate or compassionate in your actions or inactions to people. The Iroko tree height APC’s N100m Presidential ransom does not reflect any of the statements above as it does not take cognisance of our harsh socio-economic realities. Their action is, rather, a demonstration of the height of heartlessness, insensitivity and desperation  by some ‘cash and carry’ Heavy Weights within the Party who, at all costs, plot to dislodge the intellectually and morally qualified so as to pave the way for them to grab the diadem seamlessly. May APC be informed that should they give their ticket to a political turncoat who will further our anguish post 2023 via misrule, then the principle of ‘Demand and Supply’ shall apply as Nigerians shall but have choice of migrating to another party, thanks to BVAS which has reduced rigging to the lowest ebb.

-Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731.

Asking a presidential aspirant to pull out N100m  just for forms is heart-rending! One’s first thought may be an avenue of sifting the contenders from the avalanche of pretenders. To others, there may be a thousand reasons for this chilling demand. It’s not just an APC affair: this all millionaire game also cuts across the PDP. But what is the actual Eighth Wonder is the fact that within the millionaire club are also a few others who can dole out a billion naira for the same reason. Yet, these are also the very aspirants whose forms are reportedly said to have been bought for them by their acolytes or admirers. What a huge fraud! There are many Nigerians out there who have something upstairs but have been technically knocked out by the N100m killer punch. Personally, I  am ’eminently qualified’ to govern this country and fix most of its age-long problems which are basically tribalism, corruption, insecurity, poor power supply, unemployment and our ever-dwindling economy. But the N100m ransom has not only held me hostage: I have also been technically knocked out.

-Edet Essien Esq-Cal South, 08037952470

Casmir, APC and PDP should be rechristened ‘APC/PDP bazaar ventures Ltd’! It beggars belief, that, in a country where two women engaged in a do-or-die battle over N500 debt in the street, that some Nigerians who are ‘feather weights’ with little or no chance of getting the tickets are also picking the N40m & N100m nomination forms. It is unfortunate because ultimately, it is the public that will pay back via the treasury that will be looted in compensation for ‘their financial investments’.

-Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +2348161114572 

Dear Casmir, ours is a faithless and unpatriotic society. Cash and Carry politics reigns in our democracy and Cash and Carry salvation is preached by Clergy/Clerics. It’s unfortunate that valuable citizens are mainly from the middle and low class so party flags are likely to elude them unless INEC intervenes to slash cost of forms.

– Cletus Frenchman, Enugu, +234 909 538 5215

Truth of the matter is that APC hiked their nomination fee for N100million to scare some people from not contesting for president.

-Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, +2348062887535

• Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, May 9, 2022

APC’s N100m presidential ransom

By Casmir Igbokwe

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has become a renowned hostage of some sort. Recently, he informed whoever cared to listen that he had budgeted N50 million to set himself free from the prison camp of his own political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Another N50 million, he said, would come from his supporters. Ngige wants to be President of Nigeria. But he must first pay N100 million, which is the amount his party charged for nomination and expression of interest forms for presidential aspirants. This same man, as governor of Anambra State between 2003 and 2006, was intimidated and even kidnapped by his godfathers because he refused to mortgage the resources of his state to them as ransom for his freedom. Now that some people will help him to purchase the presidential forms, are we to experience another kidnap incident, if he becomes President?

The APC, even when it was in opposition, always sells its forms higher than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This year, the expression of interest and nomination forms for presidential aspirants for the PDP is N40 million. In 2014, the party sold the forms for N22 million, while the then opposition APC sold its own for N27.5 million. In 2019, the APC sold the forms for N45 million while the PDP pegged its own at N12 million. The same trend occurs for the governorship, senatorial and House of Representatives/Assembly positions. Incidentally, President Muhammadu Buhari, who had sworn to fight corruption at inception of office and who decried the high cost of N27.5 million APC forms in 2014, fully participated in fixing the current outrageous fee of N100m for presidential aspirants.

Although the ruling party claimed that it was reducing the nomination fees for youths by 50 per cent, how many youths or average Nigerians can afford the so-called 50 per cent reduction? The party says women and persons living with disabilities will only pay for the expression of interest forms. How many of these people can afford that? How many middle-class people with integrity can afford our parties’ forms? If aspirants spend this much for forms, how much do they have in stock for the real campaigns? Must one be a billionaire to be able to serve the country as President or even governor?

In fact, how many of the presidential aspirants, especially public servants, can genuinely afford APC’s humongous fees for forms? Many of them claim their support groups purchased the forms for them. But, as former President Olusegun Obasanjo noted recently, Nigerians should vote out all those making these claims because they lied to Nigerians and did not deserve to be voted into office.

It is pertinent to note that the salary of the President of Nigeria is N14.058 million per year or N1.171 million per month. That of the Vice-President is N12.126 million per year or N1.01 million per month. A minister or governor takes home about N7.8 million annually. This means it will take the President of Nigeria about seven years to garner the N100 million for the APC’s presidential forms and over eight years for a Vice-President like Professor Yemi Osinbajo. For ministers like Ngige, Rotimi Amaechi and Emeka Nwajiuba or governors like Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, it will take them over 12 years to be able to pay for the fees. These aspirants, who are still in government, need to further convince Nigerians that they are not corrupt.

Bola Tinubu is another riddle that needs to be unravelled. A former governor of Lagos State, Tinubu is currently known as the ‘National Leader’ of the APC. But does this title come with any salary? Or is it his pension as ex-governor that he is using to foot his political bills? Pardon my ignorance, as I am not aware of any multimillion naira business he is currently running to be able to afford such a nomination fee. The director-general, Tinubu Support Organisation, Aminu Suleiman, reportedly signed a cheque to purchase the form for Tinubu a few hours after the N100m nomination announcement was made. But latest reports indicate that the former governor eventually paid for the forms himself. It was delivered to him last week by some of his acolytes.

The ruling party has reportedly justified the huge amount it charged for various political positions. Its spokesman, Felix Morka, was reported to have said that the party’s decision reflected the country’s current situation. He added that the APC believed the values placed on the forms were justified because the party had little or no funding sources and it needed to raise funds to cover party expenses for the forthcoming elections.

I see! It is ironical that this is a party that mesmerized Nigerians with the ‘change’ mantra in 2014. It had also professed its determination to fight corruption. But from what is happening now, I am getting more confused.

No doubt, the taproot of most of our problems as a country is corruption. Political parties fuel this problem when they encourage politicians, by commission or omission, to siphon public funds for self-enrichment. After spending huge sums of money to obtain forms and run their campaigns, politicians become desperate to recoup their investment. Hence, they engage in a looting spree. Those who have sponsors or godfathers become slaves to those sponsors as they need to repay their political debt.

Many sane countries start from the top to fight corruption. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Even, some of the top politicians who were unfortunate to be convicted in the past were pardoned after a few years in prison. Former governors of Plateau and Taraba States, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, come to mind here.

We must resolve as a people to vote out all corrupt politicians in the 2023 general election. We know them. And we must ask them questions when they start campaigning. Any aspirant who cannot convincingly explain how he got the money to purchase this form must be given the red card. This same thing goes for governorship aspirants and other positions.

We borrowed this expensive presidential system from the United States of America. But not even the U.S. spends half of what we spend to purchase forms. Next year will be a critical one for Nigeria. So many things are wrong with our system. Insecurity is high. The rate of inflation and unemployment is very high. Poverty is endemic. If we make the mistake of electing the wrong persons into positions of authority this time, the country is doomed.

We must begin to push for serious political and electoral reforms in Nigeria. We have a newly amended Electoral Act. There are clauses, which are aimed at curbing outrageous electioneering expenses. But judging from what is happening, we still have a long way to go. As individuals, parties and as a country, what we spend just to elect those who will govern us is too much. We must collectively say ‘No’ to bullion-van democracy in Nigeria.

Re: Obi as the most preferred presidential aspirant

Dear Casmir, Peter Obi, no doubt, is one of best governors Nigeria has ever produced. He is a presidential material. He has a proven track record to show for his stewardship as governor of Anambra state. He is a good candidate from the South-East if the parties want to go the way of zoning in 2023 and it favours the Igbos. But I would like that now that other aspirants to presidency are about meeting delegates, making consultation ahead of party primaries, he should go beyond his geopolitical zone. He should move to areas where he is likely going to face challenge. He should be more strategic and know that he needs to cut the friendship of the northerners more because of their voting power. Project Nigeria is a big one and needs a pan-Nigerian. I wish him luck and hope Nigerians give him their mandates to lead them in 2023.

– Onyejaka Alex Arinze, ariwaotiokpo1980@yahoo.com

Dear Casy, these politicians from outside the South-East zone desperately jostling for 2023 presidential diadem do not have any iota of patriotism or national interest. All they have are interests that promote their:-(1) personal aggrandizement; (2) ethnic jingoism. For justice, equity and fair play to be at play in Nigeria’s governance, FEDERAL CHARACTER was entrenched in our constitution. To sustain this principle, political parties included it in their respective constitutions whereupon the South-West, the North, the South-South have all had their turns, in some cases, more than their own fair share. Now that it is the turn of the South-East, why is Nigeria’s political space awash with all manner of desperados outside the South-Eeast, each adducing some hopelessly laughable reasons that mindlessly stand justice on its head!?

– Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731

Ordinarily and ideally, a Peter Obi pairing with a northern deputy who is widely accepted is the magic wand for the PDP. And the South-East has remained PDP’s consistent ally from 1999 till date. But the PDP has already shot itself in the leg by not specifically zoning its presidential slot to the South-East. The mood of all sincere and right-thinking Nigerians should weigh heavily in favour of a Nigerian President of Igbo descent. On the podium for this very important diadem, Peter Obi unarguably towers above all other aspirants.

– Edet Essien Esq. Cal South, 08037952470

Casmir, Obi’s purported ranking as ‘the most preferred presidential aspirant’ should be taken with a pinch of salt. How broad-based was the survey? Specifics on the popularity of the aspirants on regional basis were not stated. Does his popularity cut across various segments of the Nigerian society? However, all things being equal, the rating is still encouraging as it places someone from the South-East region ‘within the corridors of power,’ if not ‘in power’ by 2023. What are Obi’s ‘selling points’ in the North? Obi’s electoral value to the northern delegates will be most pivotal or crucial for him to emerge as PDP’s presidential candidate, which is a stepping stone to the main diadem, Aso Rock.

– Mike, Mushin Lagos, +2348161114572

Dear Casmir, the first sign of development is favourable balance of payments. Peter Obi is already on the right course, ready to make us an exporting country less dependent on oil. He is a patriot and lion of Judah highly relied upon for a national government and consolidated unity.

– Cletus Frenchman, Enugu, +234 909 538 5215

Mr. Peter Obi has what it takes to deliver good governance if elected as president in 2023. He is prudent in spending. Nigerians should go for him.

– Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, +2348062887535

Peter Obi has the will, the wisdom and the intellect to change Nigeria’s political, security, educational and economic narratives.  It is only wicked tribalists and ethnic jingoists that will oppose his candidacy.

– Anonymous, +2348036833255

Hello Mr. Casmir, your view on Obi is a welcome one. But the issue is that opinion polls (even genuine) ones have nothing to do with election in Nigeria. It is one man, one vote, after one might have scaled the party’s huddle.

– Anonymous, +234 806 343 9922

• Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, May 2, 2022