January 29,2013 results
Stoke City 2-2 Wigan Athletic
Sunderland 0-0 Swansea
Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Manchester City
Aston Villa 1-2 Newcastle United
January 30 Fixtures
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Norwich vs Tottenham Hotspur
Reading vs Chelsea
Everton vs West Brom
Fulham vs West ham United
Manchester United vs Southampton
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Messi, Ronaldo clash in El Clasico
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo come into Wednesday’s El Clasico clash in Madrid in the Spanish Cup semifinal in fine form and full of goals.
Messi has hit 16 and Ronaldo 12 in their last 10 games, and the four the Argentine got against Osasuna on Sunday makes it 33 in the league while Ronaldo has 21 after his hat-trick against Getafe.
It will be the fourth time Real Madrid and Barcelona have met this season.
Madrid took the Spanish Super Cup on away goals over two legs and managed a 2-2 draw in Barcelona in the league, the only points Barca have dropped at home, so there is little to choose between the two up to now.
In the league Barca enjoy a 15-point advantage over their rivals but that will all be forgotten when Madrid seek to avenge last season’s quarter-final defeat in the same competition that Barca eventually won.
Messi’s goals at the weekend meant he became the first player in history to score in eleven consecutive La Liga matches and he can equal or break another record on Wednesday.
One goal would level Alfredo Di Stefano’s long-standing 18 goal tally in games between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo will be walking a yellow card tightrope.
He has already picked up two in the Cup, another on Wednesday will mean he misses the second-leg scheduled to take place in Barcelona in almost a month’s time on the 27th of February.
The Portuguese star also has goalscoring form in recent games with the Catalans, hitting seven in the last six meetings, and he has told his club’s TV station that the game can’t come quick enough.
“It’s an important but complicated game for us against one of the most difficult teams in the world, but it should be a big night. We’re at home and have a good chance but we’ll have to play well, we know Barca have a great team but I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Real Madrid go into the game with important players missing. Most of all club captain Iker Casillas, who fractured a bone in his hand in the previous round against Valencia.
The club reacted quickly to sign Diego Lopez from Sevilla last Friday as cover, for ?3.5 million, and he will come into contention for his debut.
However, Antonio Adan kept a clean sheet at the weekend with Lopez sat on the bench, and he may continue to deputise.
Also out for Madrid are the suspended trio of Sergio Ramos, Angel Di Maria and Fabio Coentrao, plus the injured Pepe.
Jose Mourinho will have to choose between Raphael Varane, Raul Albiol and former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho for his centre-half partnership.
Mourinho was able to rest Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Karim Benzema and Alvaro Arbeloa on Sunday against Getafe and all should start.
Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets sees the tie being tight despite Madrid missing players.
“It will be an even game, it doesn’t matter who is out for them, we must focus on our own game. The tie won’t be decided in the Bernabeu so a good result for us would be a win, not a draw” he said.
His side don’t share Madrid’s selection headaches and key midfielder Xavi Hernandez will be celebrating the signing of a new contract that ties him to the club until 2016, when he will be 36.
Indian women given kitchen knives, chilli to fend off rapists
India’s Hindu nationalist party governing Mumbai has handed out kitchen knives and chilli powder to women following a gang rape in the capital New Delhi for self defence.
The rape incident in New Delhi has ignited a national debate on the best way to tackle sex crimes.
The Shiv Sena party, an ally of the main opposition BJP, said it had handed out 21,000 knives with three-inch (7 cm) blades to women in the city and surrounding areas and plans to distribute 100,000.
Mumbai police said they were examining the knives and considering legal action.
“This is a symbolic gesture,’’ said Shiv Sena spokesman Rahul Narvekar, adding that a knife shorter than six inches in length does not fit the definition of a weapon.
“The party also handed out small bags of chilli powder – apparently to throw into an attacker’s eyes.
“It’s only to pass a signal to eve-teasers, anti-social elements and perpetrators of crime against women that women are empowered and they can take care of themselves,’’ Narvekar said.
Eve-teasing is a euphemism for molesting women.
“Don’t be afraid of using this knife if someone attacks you,’’ Ajay Chaudhari, running the knife campaign, was quoted by the party newspaper, Saamana, as saying.
“We have set up a team of nine advocates to protect you from any potential court cases that may arise.’’
A 23-year-old physiotherapy student was raped and beaten on a moving bus on Dec. 16 before being thrown bleeding onto an expressway in New Delhi, dubbed India’s “rape capital’’.
Mumbai is generally considered a safer city for women.
The attack and the student’s death two weeks later caused public outrage at the failure of the government and police to protect women from rising sexual offences in a country where one rape is reported on average every 20 minutes.
In response, more women are taking up self-defence classes and carrying pepper spray.
A government commission set up to recommend revisions to India’s sex crime laws this week said women who kill an attacker during a attempted rape should be able to plead self-defence.
Death toll from Brazil nightclub fire hits 245: police
The death toll from a fire that tore through a Brazilian nightclub packed with students has risen to 245, an official said early Sunday as investigators dug through the charred remains of the building.
“There are 245 dead and 48 in the hospital,” Major Cleberson Bastianello, a military police commander in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria, told AFP.
Dutch Queen Beatrix abdicates
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| Queen Beatrix |
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 75, used a televised address on Monday to announce her abdication from the throne in favour of her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander.
Beatrix has reigned as the sixth monarch of the House of Orange since 1980, when Queen Juliana, her mother, retired from the throne after 31 years.
The past year has been difficult for the Queen after Prince Friso, her second son, was buried in an avalanche at the Austrian ski resort of Lech.
He suffered cardiac arrest that lasted 50 minutes and remains in a semi-coma in a British hospital.
Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, who will become King on April 30, is married to Princess Maxima Zorrigueta and the couple have three young children.
Decades of grooming for the throne involved shaking off his image as a beer-drinking fraternity boy whose blunt comments upset the press and politicians.
Beatrix said in a television broadcast to the nation that she was stepping down because she felt her son was ready to take her place on the throne.
A constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands had reduced the involvement of the Royal House in politics, a role long seen more as a formality than a position of power.
In the past, the Queen took part in forming government coalitions by appointing a political mediator, raising questions about behind-the-scenes influence on the democratic process.
That role was scrapped before the past election, which took place in September 2012.
It was widely rumoured that Queen Beatrix was no fan of anti-immigrant, eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders.
She alluded in speeches to the need for tolerance and multi-culturalism, comments that were seen as criticisms of Wilders’ anti-Islamic views.
Wilders’ poor showing at the past election and loss of influence in politics, could well have contributed to her decision to abdicate.
Queen Beatrix, who remains very popular with the Dutch, became the sixth monarch of the House of Orange in 1980 following the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, who reigned for 31 years.
Juliana was 73 years old and in deteriorating mental health when she abdicated, but Beatrix has remained active and in good health in spite of some setbacks.
Iran successfully launches monkey into space, says state media
Iran sent a monkey into orbit and returned it back to earth, state media reported on Monday.
The locally designed capsule with the life monkey was launched by a Kavoshgar carrier-rocket into orbit and recovered safely back on the ground, Iranian state media quoted a statement by the country’s aerospace organisation as saying, without giving the timing of the launch.
Officials said it was prelude to the country sending humans into space, Press TV reported.
Iran launched its first satellite into orbit in February 2009.
A year later it successfully tested a rocket that carried a mouse, a turtle and worms into space.
Last year, Iran launched the Rassad-1 (Observer) imaging satellite, which it said was also designed and constructed by Iranian experts.
Tehran has rejected Western charges that its space projects have military aims and accuses the West of trying to distort Iran’s scientific achievements as aggression.
‘Not to publish’ Diana photo sells for $18,000: auctioneer
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| The Photo |
The black-and-white image from the dawn of the 1980s shows Diana, possibly in a ski chalet, smiling at the camera as she lies comfortably in the lap of a like-aged but unidentified young man reading a book. The photo was taken before she became princess of Wales.
By the window stands a bottle of Johnnie Walker whisky, but more intriguing are the words “not to be published” scrawled across the photo with the kind of grease pencil used by newspaper picture editors at the time.
On the back, the photo is dated February 26, 1981 — two days after Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince Charles and the commoner then known as Diana Spencer.
RR Auctions of Amherst, New Hampshire, which handled the sale, said the photo came from the private Caren Archive, which acquired it seven years ago when it bought out the photo library of Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper.
The auctioneers did not identify the buyer.
British media have said the young man is Adam Russell, the great-grandson of former British prime minister Stanley Baldwin.
Internet bidding on the photo and others — including a rare autographed portrait of Albert Einstein by a New York society photographer — ran from January 17 through Thursday.
Diana died in a Paris car crash in August 1997, a year after her divorce from Charles. She was 36.
CAN Moves To Resolve Internal Crisis
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| Oritsejafor |
General Secretary of the association, Reverend Musa Asabe, who read a communique of the President-in-council meeting held in Abuja said the association has set in motion the process for resolving the crisis rocking the association as the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria.
It will be recalled that the Catholic Bishop conference had threatened to pull out of the association due to alleged lack of confidence in the leadership of the association under Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.
NBC denies ban on musical videos of P-Square,Wande Coal,Timaya ,others
The Nigerian Broadcast Commission (NBC) on Monday denied banning the broadcast of on some musical videos by Nigerian artistes.
Mrs Maimuna Jimada, the Acting Public Relations Officer of the Commission, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the commission was not aware of the ban.
She said NBC was not in charge of banning musical videos, adding: “NBC has not banned any videos as we are not in-charge of placing a ban on music videos.”
Some newspapers had reported that the commission had banned some new musical videos from being broadcast in the country.
The report named some of the affected artistes as P-square, Wande Coal, Timaya, Flavour, D’prince, Goldie, Chuddy K and Tillaman.
The report said the videos were banned for containing offensive materials.
Jimada said NBC was solely responsible for ensuring that musical videos and audios made for public consumption were safe.
“ If a music video or audio has content that is not suitable for broadcast we tag these videos and audio as ‘not to be put on air’’.
Also we inform stations across the country not to broadcast them,” she said.
She said that if a video was tagged as not to be aired, its producers could still reproduce them with better content for broadcast.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Yunusa Tanko, the Deputy Director and Head of Corporate affairs, National Films and Video Censors Board, said the board was unaware of such ban.
He said although the board was in-charge of censoring the content of musical video, artistes failed to bring their works to the board for proper check before broadcast.
He explained that since the videos were produced for broadcast, it was also the duty of NBC to monitor their contents.
“The board has collaboration with NBC and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in matters of copyright, piracy and censorship.
“Most times these issues could fall under any of our jurisdiction because our functions overlap.
“NBC has the mandate to regulate content and music videos are supposed to be classified.
“Though piracy is supposed to be handled by the copyright commission, the censors’ board works to ensure that all content that passes through the board are classified,” he explained.
Nkiru’s Kidnap: SSS parades 6 suspects, including dismissed police constable
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday paraded six suspects, including a dismissed Police Constable, in connection with the kidnap of Nkiru Sylvanus, the Senior Special Assistant to Imo Gov. Rochas Okorocha.
Marilyn Ogar, the Deputy Director, Public Relations of the service, paraded the suspects at a joint news conference with the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba.
Ogar said that three other suspects in connection with the kidnap had been arrested by the police.
She said that Sylvanus, who was kidnapped by gunmen on Dec. 15, 2012, was released on Dec. 21 after the payment of N8 million.
Ogar named the six suspects as Ndidi Cletus, 30; dismissed Police Constable Stanley Asonna, 27; Aminus Musa, 40; Mohammed Abubbakar, 34; Obinna Okwuolisa, 30; and Samson Onwuka, 24.
She said the suspects kidnapped the governor’s aid and kept her in a bush at Avu junction in Owerri, for six days.
Ogar said that all the suspects had made confessions and would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
She said that Cletus confessed to being the leader of the nine-man gang, who kidnapped Sylvanus, adding that at the time of his arrest, N3.4 million was recovered from him.
Mba confirmed that Cletus, a constable attached to MOPOL 19, Port Harcourt, was dismissed from service on July 19, 2010 after being implicated in the kidnap of three oil workers in Imo.
He said this was contrary to the claim in his confession to the DSS that he was dismissed in 2004 for absenting himself from duty for 21 days without permission, on grounds of ill health.
Mba said that investigation into the kidnap of the oil workers showed that the suspect provided the tactical and operational guidelines to the gang who committed the act.
He said that having established that the dismissed officer was deeply implicated, the police authorities declared him wanted and he remained on the wanted list until he was arrested for taking part in the kidnap of Sylvanus.
Mba described the joint news conference as a “classical example of inter-agency collaboration to deepen intelligence sharing’’ for national security.
He said that the three suspects, who are in the custody of the police, had been charged to a Magistrate’s Court in Owerri, which has also ordered their remand.
Fielding questions from newsmen, Mba urged relations of kidnapped victims not to pay ransom to kidnappers, saying that it was the “sweetest incentive’’ that motivates kidnapping.
“Unequivocally, our stand is, `don’t pay ransom’; we encourage Nigerians not to pay ransom,’’ he said.
House Chairman On Internal Security Arraigned for Dud Cheques
Gebi who was arraigned on a 13-count charge at an Abuja High Court sitting before Justice Abba Bello Muhammad was accused of issuing 13 dud cheques in favour of the complainant, Musty Petroleum Limited.
The offence according to the EFCC is an offence punishable under Section l (B) (I) of the Dishonoured Cheque (Offences) Act, 2004 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
The lawmaker was said to have issued the complainant posted dated cheques from his personal account and a company account named, Craft Technology Limited with value of dates on 13/01/2012 and 12/01/12 respectively.
The cheques were issued to cover an interest free loan of N125, 000,000 repayable within a period of 60 days, which the company borrowed him.
Honourable Gebi however pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court allowed him to continue the administrative bail granted to him by EFCC.
The matter has been adjourned to February 19, 2013 for hearing.
Reps. Reject Bill On Breast Feeding
Though the Representatives admitted the health benefits of breastfeeding, they insisted that it is an issue best left out of the public domain as “no woman has to be forced to breast feed her child.”
The House observed that the bill, which was sponsored by Representative Jumoke Okoya Thomas, lacks depth and validity in the labour laws of the country.
State Governors, FCT Share $1billion From Excess Crude Acct
Briefing state house correspondents after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Tuesday, the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi said that after the deduction only about N9.2 billion will be left in the excess crude account.
NEC also endorsed the implementation of the states GDP computation programme introduced by the Ministry of National Planning and six states of the federation will be used as pilots in the execution of the programme.
Vice President Namadi Sambo presided over the council meeting where issues on the excess crude account, GDP computation, how to curb trafficking in persons in the country and the stoppage of multiple taxation across the states were discussed.
Over the years, GDP has been calculated at the federal level but now the Federal Government says it is also possible to calculate the gross domestic products at the state level.
The council also adopted recommendations on how to stop child trafficking in the country with Abia, Kogi and Ogun states to be treated as pilot cases in a bid to combat the social scourge.
Mali conflict: French 'enter last rebel town of Kidal'
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| Kidal airport, 2012 |
French forces say they have entered Kidal in the north of Mali, the last major town they have yet to secure in their drive against Islamist militants.
French forces now control Kidal airport after a number of aircraft, including helicopters, landed there overnight.
Islamist militants were reported to have already left the town and it was unclear who was in charge.
French and Malian forces have been sweeping north, earlier taking Gao and Timbuktu with almost no resistance.
France - the former colonial power in Mali - launched a military operation this month after Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.
We’ll take B’Haram seriously after 30 days – FG
The Federal Government on Tuesday reacted to the offer of ceasefire by a faction of the fundamentalist Islamic group, Boko Haram, by giving a condition to the sect.
The condition: Boko Haram must stop its violence in the North for a period of one month.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, stated the Federal Government’s position just as the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, summoned an emergency security meeting over increased presence of foreign immigrants in the FCT.
Ibrahim spoke with journalists at the opening of the 2013 seminar on National Security with the theme, Contemporary National Security Challenges: Policy Option, organied by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College, Abuja.
He said that while security chiefs were excited by the development, the olive branch offered by the sect called for caution.
Ibrahim said the government would only take the peace overture seriously if Boko Haram could ensure that attacks of whatever form did not take place for 30 days.
He stated that security operatives would wait for the period to see if no public place, security formation and place of worship was bombed before taking the sect seriously.
Ibrahim also said he was optimistic that the development would culminate in improved security in the country.
He said, “You see, we must treat that with a lot of caution. You understand, there are certain objective tests that will make sense. Let’s assume we can have a long period of about one month where no bomb explodes, where nobody is shot, where nobody is beheaded, where no church is bombed, where no mosque is threatened.
“If they can guarantee just one month, then we can begin to talk. You see we must take this with a lot of caution. That is what I am telling you.
“We hope whatever that must have brought about this will further enhance our security and it’s like a recognition of the very futile approach to solving whatever they consider to be their problems. So we are a bit excited by it but we are taking everything with a lot of caution.”
Boko Harama’s commander for Southern and Northern Borno, Muhammed Abdulazeez, had in a statement on Monday, said the sect resolved to stop its violence after a dialogue with the Government of Borno State in Maiduguri.
Abdulazeez urged all Boko Haram members to lay down their arms in honour of the declaration.
He said that the ceasefire had become necessary as a result of the hardship caused other Muslims and citizens of the North by the activities of the sect.
He stated that security operatives were free to arrest anybody found to be fomenting trouble after the perfection of the ceasefire deal.
Abdulazeez had said, “For sometime now, we the members of Jamaatul ahlil Boko Haram sunna lidawati wal jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram have recently had a meeting and dialogue with the government of Borno State where we resolved that given the prevailing situation, there is the need for us to cease fire.
“We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as some of our notable followers agreed that our brethren in Islam, both women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence we resolved that we should bring this crisis to an end.
“We therefore call on all those that identify themselves with us and our cause, to from today(Monday) lay down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it to the next member who hasn’t heard.
“We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting was to cease fire.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had in 2011 initiated a dialogue between the Federal Government and the sect.
Obasanjo had visited the family of the late leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf, in Maiduguri, where he was received by the father-in-law of the leader, Babakura Fuggu.
Fuggu was killed a few days after Obasanjo’s visit.
In November last year, the sect named a former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and six others to mediate between it and the government.
Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Senator Mohammed, on Tuesday met with the FCT Police Commissioner; Director, Department of State Security; FCT Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as representatives of Customs, Immigration and Prisons in his official residence in Abuja.
Others at the meeting convened by the minister over the rising number of illegal immigrants in the FCT were the FCT Permanent Secretary, Chairmen of the six Area Councils in the FCT, as well as top officials of the FCT Administration.
It had been reported that two Nigerian affiliates of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb — Boko Haram and the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis- Sudan — are planning major reprisal to protest Nigeria’s participation in Mali.
Nigeria has deployed forces in northern Mali to flush out the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups, who have taken control of the vast desert territory.
Security agents had said that the sects planned to protest Nigeria’s participation in the Mali war, and had therefore brought into the country, terrorists that may be used to carry out attacks on government installations and in kidnapping high-profile persons.
The FCT minister stated that the meeting was called to appraise the security situation in Abuja, adding that it was normal for the FCT Administration to take proactive measures to reduce any possibility of security breach in the territory.
He emphasised that the government would not want to be taken unawares as the security of lives and property remained important to the Federal Government.
The minister called for continued collaboration,and sharing of information with a view to ensuring synergy amongst all the security outfits in the FCT.
While reminding them of the constant need to share intelligence , Mohammed promised to support the security agencies by procuring new equipment to ease their operations.
He said, “Security agencies in the Federal Capital Territory should be on red alert to effectively take precautionary measures against any unforeseen circumstances. Residents are enjoined to be vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the security agents.”
The NIS could however not be reached for comments on the alleged influx of immigrants into the FCT as its new public relations officer, Ekpedeme King, could not be reached on the phone.
He did not respond to a text message sent to his phone.
The Federal Government’s military intervention in the Malian crisis was part of the moves to solve the terrorism problem in the country, which is believed to have foreign backing.
Speaking also on the crisis in Mali, the CDS, stated that Nigerian troops were performing very well in their peacekeeping operations in the embattled francophone country.
He said that things were moving very fast in Mali and commended Western powers such as France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and the African Union for the support they gave to ECOWAS in the challenge to free Northern Mali from the grip of terrorists.
NIGERIA: Airfares drop by 50% as competition heightens
Airfares on domestic routes have crashed by about 50 per cent from an average of N32,000 to N16,000 for an hour’s flight, following the recommencement of flight operations by Dana Air and Chanchangi Airlines, as well as the coming on board of a new carrier, Med-View Airlines, findings by our correspondent have revealed.
The suspension of flights by Air Nigeria, Dana Air, FirstNation Airlines and Chanchangi Airlines around the middle of last year had led to over 35 per cent increase in airfares from an average of N22,000 to N32,000.
Desperate passengers fought to get seats on Arik Air, Aero Nigeria and IRS Airlines, the only major domestic airlines in business then. Their flight tickets were sold for between N30,000 and N35,000.
Specifically, the suspension of flights by some of the airlines led to sharp drop in the number of available seats on planes plying domestic routes, a situation that made air travel a nightmarish experience
However, investigations by our correspondent on Tuesday revealed that the airfares had dropped by about 50 per cent with flight tickets now going for between N14,500 and N25,000 depending on how early a passenger bought the ticket.
The return of Dana and Chanchangi and the commencement of flights by a new operator, Med-View Airlines, in the last two months have led to the drop in airfares, according to findings
Dana Air sells its one-hour flight ticket (economy class) for between N14,000 and N20,000 depending on how early a passenger buys the ticket.
A visit to the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Terminal Two, Lagos, showed that Med-View was selling its one-hour flight for about N20,000 most of the time, while Chanchangi sells it one-hour flight ticket at a flat fare of N17,500.
IRS sells its ticket on some routes, especially the Lagos-Kaduna for N16,000, depending on how early a passenger buys its ticket.
Aero’s fares have been fluctuating with its ticket being sold for over N20,000 most times. However, passengers who book online may pay below N20,000.
Arik Air, a major domestic player, has been selling its one-hour flight ticket for a little above N30,000.
Top airline officials told our correspondent under the condition of anonymity that airfares might crash further when existing carriers acquire more aircraft and more operators begin flying.
It was gathered that FirstNation might resume operations before the end of the first quarter.
Insider sources, however, said the airfares might not reduce below N15,000 because the high price of aviation fuel and exorbitant government taxes might prevent the airline operators from reducing the fares below certain levels.
The Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Muhammed Tukur, had predicted in January that airfares would crash by about 40 per cent to between N18,000 and N22,000.
He said, “The industry is controlled by the law of demand and supply. More airlines are coming in, while even the existing ones are buying more planes to cope with the demand.
“I believe during this year, may be in a few months’ time, the fares will drop to between N18,000 and N22,000. The reason for the drop is that the airlines will want to fill their planes.”
Orubebe and Jonathan’s YES men
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| Uche Igwe |
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, must be close to President Goodluck Jonathan. At least, that is what he wants the President and some of us among the Nigerian public to believe. The Burutu-born politician prides himself as a prominent member of the so-called kitchen cabinet of the President. This larger-than-life posturing has often led many analysts to conclude that he speaks the mind of his boss. It is in this light that I want us to pause and examine the recent acrimonious media exchanges between the minister and the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, and collectively assess the implications on the polity.
There are many who believe Orubebe’s motive is to please and, probably, help President Jonathan by fighting real and imaginary enemies on his behalf, with an eye on 2015. However, by his action, he has unwittingly ended up hurting the President. One Igbo adage says that it is only your best friend who will tell you that your mouth smells. In the past one month, many prominent activists from the Niger Delta region including Ms Ann Kio Briggs of the Ijaw Republican Assembly; Rueben Wilson of the Forum of Peace in the Niger Delta; and Chief Ebikabowei Victor Ben (aka General Boy Loaf) have decried what they described as the non-performance of the Jonathan administration in critical areas of the economy. Many observers have also pointed at the seeming deficiencies of this government from time to time. How come the same people who stood behind Jonathan during the turbulent days prior to his ascendancy to the Presidency and even in his campaigns in 2011 have almost all turned around to become his biggest critics? In the case of Orubebe, instead of being a true friend to Mr. President, he is rather busy distorting his vision and creating multidirectional minefields for him.
Many of the so-called Jonathan’s men often forget that he is the President of Nigeria; not that of the Niger Delta region only. So, why must the Orubebes of this world continue to make him look like the President of Ijaw Republic? Why must Jonathan be made, by his advisers, to look as though he is concerned about projects in his immediate constituency only? Come to think of it, Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum could also be seen, literally, as President Jonathan’s “younger brother”. Even if they have minor political differences, they should be allowed to resolve those internally as a family and not on the pages of newspapers. And people like Orubebe should be posturing, like true African elders, to amicably resolve whatever the issues, real or imaginary, that exist between the President and the Governor rather than being seen to be fanning, further, the embers of such discord, as it were.
Wild insinuations such as the one reportedly made by the Niger Delta Minister in Uyo recently will potentially amplify the differences and project the President as someone who cannot keep his “family” together. There are those who have accused Amaechi of nursing presidential ambition; so what? Now that the Peoples Democratic Party and many Nigerians appear to have agreed to abolish the zoning principle, it then means that anyone qualified can vie for the highest office of the land. One thought that the PDP-led debates resulting in the final emergence, as Presidential candidate, and acceptance of Jonathan at the 2011 General Election had established conclusively that zoning was dead and buried and that any worthy candidate, irrespective of tribe or tongue, faith or religion and gender could vie to occupy the highest office in the land. Indeed, our constitution says so! By jettisoning zoning in favour of merit, the PDP reaffirmed this fundamental right of every citizen way back in 2011.
Let me return to the East-West road issue. That road is now a scar on the conscience of the Jonathan administration and a symbol of palpable incompetence. It is such that should make every Nigerian cover his face in shame for standing between President Jonathan and one of his most important potential legacies. The minister should perform on his immediate assignment and stop playing politics. For Amaechi, let us leave that for Rivers people to decide whether he is performing or not. The now grossly-overdue completion of the East-West Road is disgraceful. The funds committed so far in the project make the delay inexplicable. What many people are asking across other regions is that if Jonathan can so neglect “his home region”, what shall other regions do? The Niger Delta minister must be told that the current drama he is orchestrating makes it look like some people see 2015 as a fait accompli. Instead, he should be told that the signals coming from the turbulence in the PDP do not make 2015 a fait accompli. The non-completion of the East-West Road will definitely come to hunt and hurt Mr. President’s 2015 ambition especially in the South-South should he decide to contest.
Furthermore, the leadership of the PDP ought to have waded into a matter like this to ensure speedy resolution and avoid unnecessary cracks and distractions. However, it seems that the manner in which the leadership emerged may still haunt the party for a while. It is believed that the organs of the party have been hijacked by centrifugal political forces such that most members of the executive are hardly on the same page on any issue. So who will talk to whom in this? Which legitimacy will the person draw on? With all the realignments and talks about mergers by other political parties, how come the President’s men and the PDP leadership cannot work together to save their party from any possible implosion?
I do not know exactly what those who want to help the President to achieve his immediate political aims must do. But I know what they must not do: If they love the President, they must not complicate the big man’s problems through tribal myopia and infantile political demagoguery. They must stop shielding him from the truth that most of those who supported him in 2011 are disappointed at him. The President’s “Yes-men” must be told that they are actually harming and not helping him and must desist from such forthwith. They do more harm to the President than the so-called real or perceived enemies.
Uche Igwe
Jonathan on CNN: Where were Abati and Douglas?
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| From left: Amanpour and President Jonathan |
If you are literate and politically conscious enough, but have not seen or heard about the Goodluck Jonathan’s interview with Christiane Amanpour (of the Cable News Network), you must be either living in a cave – or have just awoken from a medical coma. Amanpour is the award-winning and internationally-recognised Chief International Correspondent for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly interview programme, Amanpour. She has won practically every prestigious award in the field of journalism. Because she is so well-informed and thorough and professional, you have to be well-prepared before you agree to an interview – unless, of course, you want to make a fool of yourself, or be made a fool of.
This was the situation President Goodluck Jonathan was in on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 during a satellite-relayed interview from the grounds of Davos, Switzerland. Several world leaders and leading minds in the fields of economics, politics, science and technology and the academia had gone there to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting. Once it was announced that Amanpour would have a chat with the President, the world – especially Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora –eagerly awaited what he was going to say. It was also an occasion for the President to articulate his vision and to allay the fears and anxieties of domestic and global partners in terms of democratic gains, security, investment, economic development and growth.
But, unfortunately, a golden opportunity — an opportunity to showcase himself, his country, and future possibilities — became a tragedy. The President blew it. As the Nigerian parlance goes, he made a fool of himself. He made Nigeria and Nigerians look bad. In fact, he missed the opportunity to rebrand himself and his transformation agenda. He looked timid and scared, for lack of a better word. He was nervous. He was unsure of himself and uncertain of what to say and how to say it. Frankly, he looked like a novice, like a man who was making his first appearance before the media. Many a times, he looked like a man who was about to be thrown under a moving train. And in the process, he mangled his answers. It was painful to watch!
The President needs not be a thinker-speaker in the manner of Chuba Okadigbo, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Nnamdi Azikiwe, or Obafemi Awolowo. At the very least, he must have poise, good diction, confidence, and a stable train of thoughts. He must appear like a man who understands not just politics and party politics, but also public policy. And since domestic policy and politics affect what’s going on at the global scene (and vice versa), he must have a good understanding of how both worlds interface. In other words, he must appear like a man who is educated and enlightened and who understands the ramifications of events and phenomena. At Davos, Switzerland — and especially before Amanpour – Jonathan didn’t show the slightest trace of depth or brilliance.And what’s a man without depth or brilliance?
In style and in substance, there was no hint of sophistication or cosmopolitanism in his responses to questions thrown at him. Why? How? Could it be that the snow and the temperature affected the President’s mind and disposition? Was it the long journey from Abuja to Switzerland? Was it the cold air, the food and the water? Or, maybe, the recent outbreak of flu epidemic caused him to miss his rhythms? Whatever it was, he looked bad. He was worse than President Olusegun Obasanjo. And that’s saying a lot because Obasanjo was terrible during one-on-one interviews. In a way, one could pardon the ex-general. He was not well-read. Jonathan, on the other hand, was a product of the well-respected University of Port Harcourt. And he is hyped as the first PhD holder to rule Nigeria. So, what went wrong?
Reuben Abati is the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President. He is not a drive-by journalist. He is not a novice. This is a man with many years of media/journalism experience and who thoroughlyunderstands how the media and information world works. He also knows Jonathan’s strength and weaknesses. Therefore, he could/should have coached the President on the art and science of interviews. To know Jonathan is to know that he needed and still needs such a drill. Therefore, Abati should not have left Jonathan to swim, unaided and unsupervised, in the raging sea of international journalism where reputation and perception matter. And because his boss was not coached, he took nasty beatings from Christiane Amanpour and from the Nigerian public. What’s more, his global favourability ratings took a precipitous nosedive!
And then there is Oronto Douglas. Douglas is considered by many to be Mr. Jonathan’s right-hand man. He is, perhaps, the most trusted and most relied-on of all the men and women within the President’s inner circle. Exaggeration or not, a source within the Presidency once said that “Jonathan swears on Oronto.” As far as I can tell, he has never betrayed his friend and boss. Knowing this to be the case, why hasn’t Douglas impressed it upon Jonathan to “shape up”? After all, Douglas, like Abati, understands the implications of bad press. He knows, or should have known that perception matters. And especially in an age of social network and instant communication, negatives can be amplified, and positives downplayed. Thus, one of his priorities should have been to guard against the sort of thing that happened at Davos.
In spite of the aforesaid, it is possible that (a) the President is a poor student who, simply, is unable to learn new and old tricks; or (b) he dismissed all attempts by Abati and Douglas to help him become a better communicator. We may never know. What we know for now and with a very high degree of certainty is that President Jonathan needs help. He needs help with his thinking process. He needs help with his image. He needs help running the country. He needs help with his government. He needs men and women to tell him the truth. He needs men and women who are devoted to the well-being of the country and who are not afraid to give him their very best advice. He needs people with superior intellect and unassailable character around him.
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