Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Digest for usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com - 8 updates in 8 topics
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Lumumba Shabaka
Jan 29, 2023, 11:15:10 AMJan 29
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Greetings,
I had written to Dr. Salimonu Kadiri to ask the citation(s) in which Dr. Kadiri wrote the following critical analysis in USA Africa Dialogue:
Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>: Mar 23, 2022 11:42AM
When Carvalho and his comrades struck in Portugal, the US feared that the coup leaders were socialist that would break the Southern flank of NATO in Europe. The US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger made a hurried visit to Moscow, to meet his counterpart, Andrei Andreyev-ich Gromyko. At that meeting in 1974, the Soviet Union agreed to not physically support the revolutionaries in Portugal provided the US did not obstruct the independence of the Portuguese Colonies in Africa as planned by the new leaders in Portugal. The US agreed and the colonies in Africa were all independent by 1975, and of course, the US had the chance to outmanoeuvre the revolutionary leaders from power in Portugal…
Dr. Kadiri responded:
Thank you for your request, my dear Professor Lumumba Shabaka. I am pleased to inform you that even if I were to possess the legal rights to grant your request, I will relinquish such legal rights in this wise to the USA Africa Dialogue, the publisher of the article in question. Kindly direct your request to the Moderator, USA Africa Dialogue, for consent and I hereby assure you that I will abide by whatever decision is taken by the publisher of my article.
Hence, I am writing to request the citation of the statement state above.
Thank you very much!
Best wishes,
LS
<usaafric...@googlegroups.com> escreveu em sáb., 28/01/2023 às 9:46 PM :
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Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>: Jan 28 10:39PM
After the dust of Dimka's attempted coup, coupled with the murder of General Muritala Mohammed, had settled, Olusegun Obasanjo re-surfaced from his hiding. The Hausa/Fulani and Middle Belt commissioned officers that really commanded the gun carrying non-commissioned officers of the Nigerian Army could not agree among themselves from which of the two sides a new Military Head of State should be picked to replace Muritala Mohammed. They finally opted for Olusegun Obasanjo as a compromise to become Military Head of State in place of the murdered General Muhammed to whom he was Second in Command. One of the early actions of Obasanjo's leadership was to instruct his Minister of foreign affairs, Major-General Joseph Garba to summon a meeting of Western Diplomats in Nigeria and to inform them that his government had no interest in pursuing socialist or communist goal. That made Obasanjo and some of his fellow military juntas appear as if they believed, as broadcasted in the radio by Colonel Dimka, that General Mohammed was introducing communism into Nigeria. Therefore Obasanjo's government went prostrating before the Western world Diplomats in Lagos, to disassociate self from socialism/communism. The meeting with the Western Ambassadors in Nigeria was held in May 1976, at the Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos. The fire of revolution lit in Nigeria by General Murtala Muhammed was quenched by his successor but his promise to return Nigeria to civil regime in 1979 was followed. Before General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power to the elected President Shehu Shagari in May 1979, he promulgated Decree nr. 32 of 1979 which contained the following: (1) Every former Head of State in Nigeria will be provided with a building (by the government) with at least eight bedrooms in a location of his choice. (2) Every former Head of State must be given N350, 000 a month. Noteworthy, is that a naira then exchanged at one dollar and forty-nine cents. (3)The former Head of State is entitled to free medical service for himself and his family in or out of Nigeria at government expenses. (4) The former Head of State and member of his family can go on holiday to any part of the globe one month in a year at the expense of the state. (5) The former Head of State is entitled to three brand new cars every four years and three drivers of his choice from the State. (6) The former Head of State is entitled to free post, and telephone internally and externally. Bringing now to the fore facts that Obasanjo was 42 years old when he handed over to a democratically elected government in 1979 and by then he had served in the Army for 21 years, Olusegun Obasanjo was not qualified for retirement since the age of pension in Nigeria is either when one has attained the age of sixty in service or has served for thirty years. However, at 42 years of age, Obasanjo retired not only to enjoy privileges he had decreed to himself before leaving office, but also arrogated to himself the role of nation's father.
Four years after Obasanjo had stage-managed a hand over to civilian regime, the military seized power again in Nigeria towards the end of 1983. In June 1993, General Ibrahim Babangida conducted elections under the pretence of wanting to handover to civilians. He ended up annulling the election and following loud protests by Nigerians, Babangida stepped aside and imposed Ernest Sonekan, an unelected civilian, as interim Administrator of Nigeria, instead of the elected President, M. K. O. Abiola. Intervening in the political debates following the annulment of the presidential election, Olusegun Obasanjo said that Abiola was not the Messiah Nigerians were waiting for and his stollen election victory did not worth fighting for. Six months later, General Sani Abacha toppled the Interim Government of Ernest Sonekan and assumed power. M.K.O. Abiola was detained without trial by General Sani Abacha. In March 1995, General Olusegun Obasanjo, his Second in Command when he was Military Head of State, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe, Abacha's Aide-de-Camp and others were arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow Abacha's military regime. While Obasanjo was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Yar'Adua and fourteen others were sentenced to death by a military tribunal but the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua died in Abakaliki prison on December 8, 1997 but six months later, June 8, 1998, General Sani Abacha who had planned to convert himself into a civilian President of Nigeria died. General Abdulsalami Abubakar took over as Nigeria's Military Head of State and promised to return the country to civilian rule within a year. On 16 June 1998, General Abdulsalami did not only release Olusegun Obasanjo from Abacha's gulag but also sent an Aircraft to convey him from Yola prison to his residence. That happened a week after Abacha's death and Abubakar had succeeded him.
If Obasanjo was sentenced to imprisonment under questionable trial, M.K.O. Abiola was only detained and never tried by any court. Therefore, Abiola's release from illegal detention in prison should have preceded that of Obasanjo who was actually tried and jailed. For reasons best known to General Abdulsalami Abubakar, he kept Abiola in illegal detention and only arranged a meeting between Abiola and a delegation of the United States led by Ambassador Thomas Pickering on July 7, 1998. At the meeting, Abiola was said to have been served with a cup of tea which he drank, only to collapse and die immediately. Abiola was a wounded lion in captivity and very dangerous to be released alive. However, a military constitution was imposed on the country and elections were scheduled to take place early in 1999. Three political parties, PDP, AD, and APP, participated in the Presidential, National Assembly, Gubernatorial, and State Assemblies elections of 1999. Since the late Abiola who was adjudged to have won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election was from the Southwest, it was decided that the Presidential candidates be zoned to the Southwest. AD with the strong roots in the Southwest went into coalition with APP to produce a joint Presidential candidate in the person of Olu Falae. The PDP picked Olusegun Obasanjo as its Presidential candidate and Obasanjo accepted as if he believed that he was the Messiah Nigerians were waiting for. Once again Obasanjo were to reap the fruit of democratic labour which another person had worked and died for. (To be continued)
Grace Edema <gmso...@yahoo.com>: Jan 28 12:08PM
28-01-2023 Saturday Tribune.pdf
Kindly check page 2.
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>: Jan 28 12:09PM +0100
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: FP's Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer <nor...@crm.foreignpolicy.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023, 19:39
Subject: Situation Report: NATO’s Turkey-sized headache
To: Cornelius...@gmail.com <Cornelius...@gmail.com>
NATO says go. Turkey says
no.
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*By Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer*
Welcome back to *Foreign Policy*’s SitRep! If you are a former president or
vice president, we kindly ask you to check your house and make sure you
don’t have any classified documents
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/omfwwvnqnfwdtttkdkfvmdcnpzdvvcqkmktqzmlqrmzjr_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
lying around. It seems to be a problem
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/dstccnwjwgcftttrfrgnsflwbpfnnljrsrtjpsmjdsphs_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
these days, and we wanted to give you a heads up.
Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Turkey’s blockade of *NATO*
expansion efforts continues, more insights on *China’s* global supply chain
dominance, and U.S. Secretary of State *Antony Blinken* prepares for a
visit to the Middle East.
*Have feedback? Hit reply to let us know your thoughts. *
------------------------------
*Talking Turkey*
There was so much hope. When Finland and Sweden officially applied for NATO
membership last May, abandoning decades of neutrality in Helsinki and more
than a century of nonalignment in Stockholm, U.S. and European officials
celebrated the historic step as a major strategic defeat for Russia,
stemming from its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The only thing NATO
leaders needed to do to lock this in was get their house in order to admit
them.
Turns out, that was easier said than done.
Cut to eight months later, and 29 of NATO’s 30 members have signed off on
expanding the alliance, but there’s still one holdout blocking the whole
thing: Turkey. (Hungary, the other holdout, has said it will ratify
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/pdqmmskvkfmbhhhybyfsdbrkgqbssrvydyhvqdlvcdqjv_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
Sweden and Finland’s bids in February.)
Sweden and Finland, backed by NATO powers, have carefully tried to court
Turkey to agree to greenlight NATO expansion through a painstaking,
monthslong diplomatic campaign that appears to have run aground. Turkey,
Finland, and Sweden signed a memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid last
June signaling there’d be an end to the impasse, but no one spoils
otherwise routine NATO business better than Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
Erdogan has dug his heels in—amid a critical election season in Turkey—over
claims that Sweden harbors militants from a separatist Kurdish group, the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group designated as terrorists by the
United States and European Union that Turkey has been fighting for more
than 30 years.
In the early months of the NATO expansion process, Finland and Sweden vowed
to move in lockstep with each other and coordinate entering NATO at the
same time. Now, after eight months of impasse, Finland is reportedly
considering going for a membership bid
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/lzdjjychczjrmmmdrdzyqrfclkryyfhdqdmhkqnhwqkdz_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
alone. And the prospect of expanding the alliance to 32 members—once seen
as a foregone conclusion—now appears more remote than ever.
*Turkey’s beef. *Turkey had already been stalling on a parliamentary vote
needed to ratify Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership for months by the
time the clock rolled around to 2023, looking for a variety of
concessions—such as deportations of people from Nordic countries viewed by
Erdogan as terrorists—that seemed like nonstarters.
But the prospect of Swedish membership, which was first jeopardized by the
past government’s ties to Kurdish parties (which their successors distanced
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/fqjjjflylqjwdddbwbqfrwclpswffcybrbdysrnygrsbd_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
themselves from), now appears much more remote after a far-right politician
in Sweden burned a Quran at a protest early in January, a move that
directly angered Erdogan. That led to Turkey canceling
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/lznjjychczjrmmmdrdzyqrfclkryyfhdqdmhkqnhwqkdk_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
a meeting to hunker down with Swedish and Finnish officials to talk about
their NATO membership—indefinitely.
On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was “
meaningless
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/lzwjjychczjrmmmdrdzyqrfclkryyfhdqdmhkqnhwqkdg_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>”
to hold a trilateral meeting to clear the air this month in Stockholm.
*Cutting bait. *Finland is now considering moving ahead with a solo effort
for NATO membership if Turkey continues to balk at Sweden’s bid, Finnish
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.
But on the other hand, Turkey’s gambit may be time sensitive. Turkey’s
elections are set for May 14, and Erdogan, who has been in power for two
decades, faces his toughest test yet, with critics calling out the
68-year-old leader for presiding over a severe economic downturn and the
erosion of democratic freedoms. (The six-party opposition group opposing
Erdogan has yet to put forward a candidate.)
*Geography matters. *Months ago, when your trusty SitRep writer was in
Finland reporting on NATO issues and asking how Sweden and Finland were
preparing for a new era of showdowns against Russia, a Finnish official
joked to him that “the Swedes are prepared to fight to the last Finn.”
A good natured joke between two neighbors, but the underlying point stands.
Finland shares one of the longest borders with Russia in Europe, and friend
or not, it acts as a giant, country-sized buffer between Sweden and Russia.
So while many U.S. and NATO officials are quietly fuming over what they see
as Turkey’s intransigence, they also concede that from a purely
geopolitical or defense planning perspective, it may be better to get
Finland—the “front-line” country—into NATO as soon as possible and sort out
Sweden later as a backup plan.
That way, NATO and at least one new member can start all the nuts and bolts
of defense planning and tight-knit military cooperation that can only begin
once a country is admitted to the alliance.
It’s not like Russia is readying any military action in the Nordic-Baltic
region—indeed, it has disarmed
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/ofmwwvnqnfwdtttkdkfvmdcnpzdvvcqkmktqzmlqrmzkk_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
a lot of its military assets in that region to feed the war machine in
Ukraine, as FP reported. But getting Finland in first and Sweden later may
be the least bad option available to them at this point.
Could Finland and Sweden wait out this political rough patch in Turkey
before joining the alliance? Or will Erdogan keep playing spoiler even
after election season? Stay tuned.
------------------------------
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Meet Leaders in Global Affairs
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A graduate school experience is not defined solely by the degree program’s
curriculum. Of great importance is the transfer of knowledge, lessons, and
skills from experts and educators — such as professors, deans, directors,
and alumni — to students . Meet the leaders who shape students’ experiences
and are developing the next generation of global changemakers. Click here
to access our special graduate program guide and request information from
the featured schools
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.
------------------------------
*Let’s Get Personnel*
The Wilson Center think tank named scholar *Oge Onubogu* as the new
director of its Africa program.
The White House announced *Elizabeth Allen* as its nominee for
undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. That role hasn’t been filled
in almost five years, since former U.S. President Donald Trump sacked
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/mcqnnkvpvwnlccctltwkslzvjqlkkzptstcpqsdpbsqts_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and a handful of other senior
appointees at the department in 2018.
U.S. President Joe Biden nominated *Julie Turner*, a veteran career
diplomat, to be the new special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
He also announced three ambassador nominations: *Cynthia Kierscht* for
Djibouti, *Jennifer Johnson* for Micronesia, and *David Kostelancik* for
Albania.
Meanwhile, Biden’s pick for the State Department’s top human rights job, *Sarah
Margon*, has withdrawn
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/ctpccnzmzhcftttgfghnqfkzsdfnnkmgqgtmdqlmjqdgm_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>,
*Politico *reports, after almost a year of impasse
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/eybbbkwqwdbfrrrtftdkpfvwcsfkkvqtptrqsphqzpsbd_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
amid Republican opponents who questioned her support for Israel. FP first
reported
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/ojlwwvnqnfwdtttkdkfvmdcnpzdvvcqkmktqzmlqrmzwt_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
that Margon was being considered for the job way back at the beginning of
the Biden administration.
------------------------------
*On the Button *
*What should be high on your radar, if it isn’t already.*
*Tough industry. *The U.S. military-industrial complex (which SitRep’s
editor, Keith, will remember, is the one that then-outgoing U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about in 1961), is not ready for a long-term
conflict
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/xhjrrmqcqgrtdddptpgmstnqyvtmmncpspdcvsbcjsvrv_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
with China.
That’s according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a
Washington think tank, which conducted a series of wargames showing that
the U.S. military could run out of weapons, such as long-range,
precision-guided munitions, in less than a week of fighting with China. The
think tank is recommending the United States begin to reassess its total
munitions requirements needed for a full-scale war.
*Power play. *The next big geopolitical competition may be over green
technology as business booms and the Earth keeps warming. But China has a
big advantage in supply chains on rare earth minerals, materials
processing, and other important elements of new energy demands, as our
colleagues Christina Lu and Liam Scott report, in a story complete
with fascinating
infographics
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/wvzggymjmfgbdddwbwfyzbtmhlbyytjwzwdjlzsjnzlgv_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
on Beijing’s supply chain dominance.
*Pump the brakes. *U.S. diplomats who are nursing have been blocked from
bringing electric breast pumps into American Embassies around the world,
prompting frustration in the rank and file as well as concern that the
State Department is falling behind the times to meet the needs of working
parents, Robbie reports
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/ivcmmfqcqgmwyyybwbgfzwtqrhwfftcbzbychzdcnzhmb_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
in an exclusive.
There are apparently security concerns about electric breast pumps inside
controlled government facilities with sensitive documents, but U.S.
military branches, such as the Air Force, have already sorted this out for
its working parents. The State Department says it is working on a fix to
the problem.
------------------------------
*Snapshot *
*German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes questions from parliamentarians at a
session of the Bundestag in Berlin on Jan. 25. Scholz acknowledged that
Germany will provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 main battle tanks.*
------------------------------
*Put On Your Radar*
*Sunday, Jan. 29: *NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg begins a
four-day swing through South Korea and Japan.
*Sunday, Jan. 29, to Tuesday, Jan. 31:* U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken visits Egypt, Israel, and the West Bank.
------------------------------
*Quote of the Week*
We’ve got two this week. Indulge us.
“I’m thrilled to be joined on the Science Committee by my Republican
colleague Dr. George Santos, winner of not only the Nobel Prize, but also
the Fields Medal—the top prize in Mathematics—for his groundbreaking work
with imaginary numbers.”
—*Illinois Democratic Rep. Bill Foster celebrates
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/fbqjjflylqjwdddbwbqfrwclpswffcybrbdysrnygrsjj_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
the (imaginary) achievements of his fellow committee member, Rep. George
Santos, who is under fire for lying about his resume, his mother being at
the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks, appearing on the Disney
show *Hannah Montana
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/krlvvgqpqtvjlllrjrtgfjbqzhjggbprfrlphfspdfhvs_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>*,
and a whole host of other whoppers. Democrats are pushing to deny
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/jtrvvdknksvwbbbtwtsdfwzkprwddzntftbnrfmnqfrvq_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html>
Santos access to classified information over his repeated lies.*
“Armored vehicles are important. You don’t go after a crocodile with a
cornstalk.”
—*U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications
John Kirby explains why the United States is sending Abrams main battle
tanks to Ukraine.*
------------------------------
*FP’s Most Read This Week*
• *The World Economy No Longer Needs Russia*
<https://click1.crm.foreignpolicy.com/fbhjjflylqjwdddbwbqfrwclpswffcybrbdysrnygrsjr_srjblpmkjmtbkscsmlrjb.html?a=Situation+Report+OC&b=66159&c=Situation+Report+OC>
*by
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian*
• *Biden’s Midterm Report Card*
Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>: Jan 27 11:49AM -0800
Yesterday in history :
The Martyrdom of Imam al-Hadi
<https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Martyrdom+of+Imam+al-Hadi>
Today in history :
Liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp
<https://www.google.com/search?q=Liberation+of+Auschwitz+concentration+camp>
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day
<https://www.google.com/search?q=The+International+Holocaust+Remembrance+Day>
The expression “All dis wahala about Koran burning looks like too much
smoke to me.” is too enigmatic to fully grasp. I’m simultaneously linking,
“no smoke without fire” with “ smoke and mirrors
<https://www.google.com/search?q=smoke+and+mirrors>” which I think is
nearer to the truth of what’s going on behind the scenes
<https://www.google.com/search?q=behind+the+scenes>. The fire, the burning
and the smoke was captured live on video - it was not fake news or a
rumour, and the idea of it being a ruse or smokescreen
<https://www.google.com/search?q=smokescreen> is completely out of the
question, for the simple reason that we are to judge an action by its
effects - a plane crashes and it’s good to know, who was on board - in
this case it’s grossly, a more targeted instance of dastardly Islamophobia
of which the effects are clear for all to see in Sweden ( adieu to NATO) in
the Islamic World ( boycott of Swedish goods and maybe even sanctions) and
in Turkey in particular where strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
<https://www.google.com/search?q=Recep+Tayyip+Erdo%C4%9Fan>is currently
campaigning to win the next Presidential election
<https://www.google.com/search?q=2023+Turkish+presidential+election&>
/re-election, slated for 14 May 2023. Right now He is centre stage, calling
the shots, clearly positioned as the champion of Islam who is standing up
to the feckless, insolent kuffar of Holland and Scandinavia who made the
fatal mistake of burning a copy of the Holy Quran in front of Turkiye’s
Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Really, a fatal mistake on many levels. When
I first heard the news, my second reaction was that for sure, just like
Lars Vilks <https://www.google.com/search?q=Lars+Vilks>, the perpetrator
Rasmus Paludan is just another “dead man walking”. In the meantime, the
scumbag is still feeling that the Holy Quran is just like any other book,
such as Mein Kampf or Letter To A Christian Nation
<https://books.google.se/books?id=XFvkQwMDbfgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Letter+to+a+Christian+Nation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJvNOlvej8AhVmSPEDHVI6C0oQuwV6BAgHEAc#v=onepage&q=Letter%20to%20a%20Christian%20Nation&f=false>,
so he is probably feeling sufficiently emboldened to try his hand at
igniting the Holy Quran outside the Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian
Embassies, but I’m sure that he’s too much of a coward to try his luck
outside the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran because he fears that a
revolutionary guard might fire at him with live ammunition from the rooftop
of the Embassy or from behind the curtain, although BTW, I don’t think
that Iran would have any spittle to waste on pork chops like him, just as
I’m sure that nobody from Sudan wants to make kebabs out of him because
everybody’s sure that he’s destined for the fire anyway. But Nigeria would
prove to be an end station for him although he doesn’t know that if he put
a live flame to the Holy Quran outside a mosque in Sokoto, Kano or Zamfara,
he would have surely already breathed his last…as the saying goes, fools
rush in where angels fear to tread
For you guys who, unlike us, are living far away from the theatre of war in
Ukraine, of course, the war is far away and will probably never touch you.
For some of us in Sweden, we keep an eye on this site <https://www.rt.com/> and
understand that in a few years from now, The Prophecies of Anton
Johansson
<https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Prophecies+of+Anton+Johansson>could be
a distinct possibility…
On Friday, 27 January 2023 at 11:34:51 UTC+1 ovdepoju wrote:
"Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA" <chidi...@gmail.com>: Jan 27 09:19PM +0100
Link:
https://mmsplusng.com/blog/acting-registrar-appointment-by-crffn-is-illegal-opara/
--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data
Officer Ambassador and Editorial Adviser at News Updates (
https://updatesonnews.substack.com)
Olasupo Laosebikan <olao...@csu.edu>: Jan 27 04:46PM -0600
An authoritative encyclopedia of a "Civil War;' Brother Kadiri
On Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 5:33 PM Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Gloria Emeagwali <gloria.e...@gmail.com>: Jan 27 12:00PM -0500
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04397-7
Jibrin Ibrahim <jibrinib...@gmail.com>: Jan 27 05:02PM +0100
Trust Dialogue on the 2023 Presidential Agenda
Jibrin Ibrahim, Daily Trust Column, 27th January 2023
Yesterday, I participated in the Annual Trust Dialogue on the theme of
interrogating the 2023 Presidential Agenda. In his opening remarks, the
Chair of the occasion, John Cardinal Onaiyekan expressed the strong view
that we must be optimistic that positive change was possible and that
indeed the time has come to do things differently with millions of young
Nigerians ready to perform their civic duty. INEC and the State must ensure
they do the needful to ensure that riggers are kept out of the ring and the
choices of citizens are respected.
One issue of concern that was debated was the introduction of the new Naira
at a critical time of election related tension. The worst part of the
policy move is that the Central Bank simply does not have enough of the new
currency to swap so markets and indeed the economy is likely to collapse at
a time when the elections are to be organised. Many wondered what the
intention of government is in trying to instigate a national crisis at
election time. Are there other plans we are not aware of?
I made the point that the presidential election agenda fr Nigeria has been
set since the Jonathan Administration. That Nigeria was facing an
existential crisis because the three core maladies of insecurity,
corruption and economic crisis have been allowed to deepen and fester to
the level where the corporate existence of the country was at risk.
Jonathan promised a breath of fresh air for the country and he was elected
but failed to deliver. The disappointment with the performance of the
Jonathan regime created an opening for serial contender for the presidency,
Muhammadu Buhari, to promise he could deliver. He got the mandate but
woefully failed to deliver after eight years on the job. His failure was a
massive disappointment for the country because there was very high
expectation that he had the character, integrity and grit to deliver. It
turned out that Nigerians knew him less than they thought.
This is what sets the stage for the 2023 presidential agenda. The
candidates ate telling us they know the problems and promise to deliver
solutions. This is simply not good enough. The real issue is that Nigeria
desperately needs a president with with sound vision on the way forward and
the capacity and integrity to perform to our expectations. Going through
the manifestoes of the presidential candidates, what we see is a long list
of the problems and an affirmation that they will all be solved. There is
very little on the modalities that would be used to solve them, the
resources required, milestones and processes.
All the candidates for example promise to successfully combat corruption,
good. The question is how. Let’s first note that corruption is illicit
activity not just in statute but expressly addressed even in the
Constitution. We know two things about corruption that have provided
structural constraints for those who have tried to fight it. First, that
the entire public service is configured to engage in massive corruption and
hide their tracks. I have not heard the candidates explain how they will
reconfigure the public service to serve the public rather than themselves.
The second thing we know is the majority of party barons are in politics to
create openings for themselves to access public resources for their
personal aggrandizement. I have not heard most of the candidates express
their vision of how they can combat corruption while surrounded by an
entourage that is in politics precisely for the purpose of engaging in
corruption.
I have looked at how some of the presidential candidates have explained
they will combat insecurity in their Manifestoes. The APC, PDP, LP, NNPP,
PRP and YPP have all promised to:
I. Better equip the armed forces and police
II. Massively increase the number of service personnel
III. Improve professionalism of security forces
IV. Implement community and state policing
V. Build capacity of Nigerian police
VI. Provide improved training and training facilities
VII. Construct adequate housing for security staff etc.
These are obvious wish list for addressing the problems. For these promises
to make sense, there is need to address how all these would be financed in
a context in which the Nigerian State is almost bankrupt. As these are only
a small part of a very long list of “to do” promises, what are the
priorities in terms of things that could be addressed immediately and which
other ones would need to be set aside for future programming. How would the
National Assembly be persuaded to pass the necessary legislation? These are
the issues that the people need to know to make an assessment about which
candidate is the most convincing in translating their wish list into
concrete action?
Some participants at the event raised serious concerns about the
establishment of state police. They argued that state governors have
virtually all become dictators in their states with no respect for
separation of powers between executive, legislature and judiciary. Given
them state police cold therefore be a license for them to detain and jail
all their political opponents thereby increasing insecurity and ultimately
destroying the democratic system itself.
The other issue that virtually all candidates have made promises on is
diversifying the economy, industrializing the economy embarking on the
pathway of the digital economy and transforming agriculture to feed the
Nation and export processed agricultural products. I love all these ideas
but I know that in previous electoral cycles, the same promises have been
made with nothing to show at the end of the day.
The Chair id Daily Trust in his opening remarks wondered whether all the
words we are hearing from the candidates were not words of desperados for
power rather than democrats seeking to deepen our democracy. There are
certainly many desperados but our task as citizens is to sift through the
candidates and identify those with the democratic ethos who also have the
competence, strength and integrity to take the country forward.
Professor Jibrin Ibrahim
Senior Fellow
Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja
Follow me on twitter @jibrinibrahim17
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Lumumba H. Shabaka, PhD
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