Pension fund "thieves" remanded in Kuje prison.....

A Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta, Abubakar Kigo and 5 others who were arraigned today over a N32.8 billion fraud in the police pension’s administration have been remanded to Kuje prisons pending their bail hearing.

The accused persons  Abubakar Kigo, Esai Dangabar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, and Sani Habila Zira are standing trial on a 16- count charge that borders on criminal breach of trust by public officers, brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and punishable under the Penal Code Act.

The accused persons who pleaded not guilty to all the charges level against them were remanded to Kuje prisons by trial Judge, Justice Mohammed Bello Talba, who set Tuesday 3rd April 2012, for hearing their bail application, and the 28th of May 2012 for commencement of Trial.

Defense counsel Solomon Adegboyega Awomolo SAN who made verbal bail applications for the accused persons, pleaded with the trial judge to remand the accused to EFCC custody.

Prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs told the court he did not object to the accused persons granted bail, but submitted that formal proceeding is adhered to, before bail is granted.

However, Justice Mohammed Bello Talba in his ruling submitted that the EFCC is not known to be a holding facility for accused persons, consequently sending the accused persons to Kuje prisons until their bail is determined.

Until his promotion to the position of permanent secretary, Abubakar Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office, in the office of the head of service of the Federation, and it was during his stint there that he allegedly connived with the others to tamper with the pension funds.

Posted: March 29, 2012 - 13:33

2015: North Will Confront Jonathan — Lawal Kaita

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An elder statesman and chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, has hit hard on the party over its recent convention which, he said, fell short of the dreams and aspirations of its founders.
Kaita, who described the emergence of the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC of the party as a grand ploy by President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential race, said the north would ensure he never succeeds.

“We hear rumours all over that Jonathan is planning to contest in 2015. Well, the north is going to be prepared if the country remains one.
That is, if the country remains one, we are going to fight for it. If not, everybody can go his way,” he told LEADERSHIP in an exclusive interview in Katsina. Lawal Kaita said the recent stand of the party on consensus was a total negation of the motive behind forming the party.

He stated: “It is a disgrace that a party like PDP is running away from election. I am one of the G18 members who founded the PDP and we formed the party because of our firm belief in election. I have contested election five or six times. We believed in election, but now the whole thing has collapsed”.

“They are running away from election. This entire consensus thing doesn’t make sense. For us who formed the PDP, we regret what is happening now. Ten candidates, overnight, all stepping down for one person! All the candidates were renowned and each of them is capable of running the party, but they all withdrew…”
Kaita, who was a governor of the old Kaduna State, insisted that the just concluded national convention of the PDP was devoid of excitement, noting: “Tukur is a highly qualified person but the fact that he allowed himself to be used as Jonathan’s candidate is what has lowered his status.”

Documents show House was the first to approach SEC for N40million.....

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Herman Hembe faces corruption allegation from SEC DG, Arunma Oteh

The nauseating corruption saga involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and the House Committee on Capital Market adds a new layer

A new set of documents (find them below) made available to Premium Times this morning suggest that it was the House Committee on Capital Market that first approached the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for sponsorship for its public hearing scheduled for March 13 - 30.

Going by the stamp of receipt on the document, the House first sent a N39, 844,490 budget estimate to the SEC on February 29. It is however not known what discussions took place between the Committee members and the SEC leadership before the budget was forwarded to the capital market reqgulator that February 29..

A breakdown of the budget shows that N5,605,240 would be spent on advertising the public hearing in five newspapers (Business News, Daily Trust, Punch, Vanguard and Tribune) while N2, 245, 450 would be needed to publicise the event on major electronic media - AIT, Channels and NTA.

For live coverages of the hearing on Channels, AIT and NTA, the budget claimed N26, 203, 800 was needed. N4, 215,000 and N1,575,000 were earmarked for secretariat need and refreshment respectively.

However, apparently after considering the budget, an official of SEC, Hassan Mamman, initiated a memo to Director General Arunmah Oteh, on March 1 suggesting that the agency "assist the Committee by co-sponsoring this three weeks long event." 

In a second memo to Ms Oteh dated March 9, 2012, Mr. Mamman indicated contact had been made with members and that the committee "welcomed" the idea of sponsoring its public hearing. He went further to suggest that the management of SEC approve N30.4million to support live coverage and secretariat needs of the hearing.

Both Ms Oteh and the board of SEC approved the proposal.    

The committee kept in touch with SEC after money was approved for it. On March 14, it wrote to the agency introducing Messrs Note Worth Consulting as its consultant for the public hearing.

"Kindly avail him all the necessary assistance please," Aba Thomas, Assistant Committee Clerk, wrote in the letter.

It is not clear what assistance SEC later offered to Note Worth as a representative of the committee. Officials of the firm could not be reached Wednesday morning.

Find the actual house public hearing document below

Culled from Premiuim Times.

Police arrest man having sex with corpse....

 

 

Oddly, police officers from the Panti Police Division in Lagos caught a man in coital relationship with a corpse
A middle aged man, Nura Mustapha, has been arrested by the Police in Lagos for having sex with the corpse of a lady at Green Star Hotel in Alaba.

Detectives from the Panti Police Division who are investigating the case said authorities of Green Star Hotel located at Alaba Rago went to the Ojo Police station to report that one of their staff named simply as Mathew had caught Mr. Mustapha making love to the corpse of a lady identified as Faith Akin. She was said to have come to Lagos from Ondo state.
" As soon as we got the complaint from the  hotel management, we rushed to the scene of the incident, unfortunately, we experienced the shock of our lives when we saw Nura on top of the lifeless lady still banging (having sex with her).”

“We had to drag him from the lady's corpse before he realized that people had been watching him, it was a terrible thing for such a young man to sleep with a corpse maybe for ritual purpose but we do not know" one of the police officers who arrested Mr. Mustapha and prefers anonymity said.

The officer also added that Mr. Mustapha confessed that he took some local herbs known as Buran Tashi the previous night and had to continue to have sex with the corpse in order to relive himself despite knowing that she was dead.

“The corpse had foam coming out from her mouth and despite that he kept banging her because the drug made him to have delayed ejaculation so as to satisfy himself, he kept banging the lady even when he discovered that she was dead, " the officer said.

Mr. Mathew, the hotel attendant, informed the police that Mr. Mustapha was a regular customer at the hotel. He said that Mr. Mustapha had booked a room at about 5 p.m. the previous day, arrived with Ms. Akin at about 9 p.m. and spent the whole night with her at the hotel.

Mr. Mathew said that he was doing a routine check on all rooms when he realized that Faith was not breathing but that Mr. Mustapha was sleeping at the time. The hotel attendant added that when he came back the second time and found Mr. Mustapha on top of the lifeless body, he raised an alarm

“…I went round to check the rooms, that was how I saw the lady (Faith) lying down, I went on to touch her but there was no response. I called out to Nura but he did not answer. It was when I came back the second time after I had informed the manager that I saw the customer (Nura) sleeping with the corpse. I tried to call his attention but he did not respond  so I went to call the police,” Mr. Mathew said.

Boko Haram says no more dialogue with government....

 

 Boko Haram has become Nigeria's biggest headache of the moment

 

“Let me state here that we will never listen to anyone asking us to enter into any form of dialogue with this government again"
The spokesperson of the extremist Boko Haram sect, Abu Qaqa, on Tuesday said the sect has closed all doors for dialogue with the Federal Government over what it described as the government’s unseriousness and insincerity on the issue.

Mr. Qaqa, who made the declaration via a telephone conference with journalists in Maiduguri, also confirmed that his group approved Datti Ahmed and his group to dialogue with government on its behalf.

“In fact, we only agreed to sit and talk with government because of the respect we have for people like Datti Ahmad in his position as the president of the Sharia Council in Nigeria, but we were very sure the government was not sincere,” Mr. Qaqa said.

The sect’s spokesperson also recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier called on the group to come out and state their grievances, which according to Mr.  Qaqa, were the unconditional release of all their members arrested.

Mr. Qaqa also added that instead of engaging them in dialogue, security agencies swooped on their representative to the talks, Abu Darda and arrested him, a situation he said made the sect to call off negotiations with government.

“Let me state here that we will never listen to anyone asking us to enter into any form of dialogue with this government again, and I challenge the security agencies to do whatever they can, while we will also do our own,” Mr. Qaqa said.

Reporters asked him a question regarding the fate of the journalist receiving death threat for being the intermediary between the sect and Mr. Ahmed’s committee. He confirmed his group came in contact with the committee through the reporter but quickly added that the reporter concerned and other journalists doing their job professionally were not under threat from the sect.

Mr. Datti Ahmad and his committee had withdrawn from their role as facilitators of dialogue between the Federal Government and the sect over what they described as government’s insincerity on the matter, after some aspects of the discussions were leaked to a foreign media by some representatives of government.

Breaking News: PDP Convention: President Jonathan suffers political setback

Bamanga Tukur 

 Bamanga Tukur... humiliated at the zonal congress in Bauchi
 

The North-East zone of the PDP rejects the President's choice of national chairman

President Goodluck Jonathan was served a huge dose of political humiliation today as governors from the North-East geo-political zone conspired to reject his anointed candidate for the national chairmanship of the governing Peoples Democratic Party.
The national chairmanship position has been zoned to the North-East. 
At the PDP zonal congress in Bauchi, which ended a while ago, Mr. Jonathan's candidate for the position, Bamanga Tukur, was defeated by a far younger and less popular Musa Babayo, who was the immediate acting national secretary of the party.
Mr. Babayo scored 14  delegate votes to Mr. Tukur's two.
Mr. Jonathan has worked hard in the past weeks to rally zonal and national support for Mr. Tukur, a septugenarian, who believe the top PDP position should be for the elderly.

Announcing the result in Bauchi, the outgoing National Vice Chairman, North-East, Paul Wampana, said a former Ministers of Interior, Shettima Mustapha and Federal Capital Territory, Ibrahim Bunu also scored two votes each.

Others, such as the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufai Ahmed Alkali, and a former governor of Bauchi State, Ahmed Adamu Muazu, scored one vote each.

Senator Girgiri Lawan from Borno State was elected as Mr. Wampana’s successor.

Governors Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) Danbaba Suntai  (Taraba) and host,  Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) were all on hand to lead delegates from their states to reject the president’s choice.

It is not yet clear if Mr. Tukur, who is tipped to emerge chairman,  would withdraw from the race, having been defeated in his home zone.  But he is at liberty to remain in the race until the convention to see if other zones would vote for him.

His spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comments.

Sources informed the Premium Times that Mr. Tukur may have paid the price of refusing to participate in both the ward and state congresses held in his native Adamawa State, leading the delegates to conclude that he was not bothered about what goes on at the grassroots level of the party.

In what was clearly his most obvious public show of support for the aspiration of Mr. Tukur, a former governor of the old Gongola state, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan had on March 12 met with governors of states in the North-east geopolitical zone alongside Mr. Tukur.

But even after the meeting the governor of Mr. Tukur home state of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, refused to give any public endorsement to the aspiration of the chairmanship candidate.

Biography of Aliko Dangote unveiled in the US

                                                                                                                                                           

The book is titled – Aliko Dangote: The biography of the richest black person in the world. And has been accepted for publication by a publishing company based in New York, USA will be released to the market in June, 2012. This is the first and only biography of this exceptional Nigerian, and African. Written by Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and Margie Marie Neal.

Continue to read more about the book from the publishers and more about the authors…

It is our pleasure to introduce to you the biography of the richest black person in the world, Aliko Mohammad Dangote.  We were in Nigeria for fourteen months for field work on this important book. We visited the ancient city of Kano in Northern Nigeria where Aliko was born, Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Wudil and other important places tracing the many paths of Aliko Dangote and his successful career as Nigeria’s foremost industrialist and Africa’s richest person.

You will agree with us that the achievement of Mr. Dangote as the richest black person in the world, according to the New York-based Forbes magazine should be celebrated by all Africans and the black race. In the book, we traced the paternal family backgrounds of Mr. Dangote to four generations beginning with Mr. Alhassan Abdullah Dantata to Mr. Sanusi Dantata and Mrs. Mariya Dantata-Dangote and Aliko Dangote. We were able to secure rare photographs from the family album in Kano, including the paternal family of the richest black person in the world. Our narrative included the political circumstances that led to the death of Mr. Mohammad Dangote, Aliko’s father in 1965 and the unrest ignited by the removal of Mr. Mohammadu Sanusi, the Emir of Kano and the grandfather of Dr Lamido Sanusi, the current governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We had rare interviews with many Nigerians in Kano on how young Aliko grew up in Kano and his formative years in the ancient city.

Next, we followed Aliko Dangote’s journey to Lagos as a 15-year old young man under the business wing of the late Mr. Usman Amaka Dantata, Aliko’s uncle born in 1950 and the last born of his maternal grandfather, who was the younger brother of Aliko’s mother. We revealed how Aliko Dangote had his first break in the business world during the celebration of Festac’ 77 and the first business relationship with then 35-year old Lt-Gen Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. We unearthed the secret of Mr. Dagote’s wealth unknown to millions of people and his contribution to the economic development of Nigeria and Africa.  In our book, we present the “complete” Aliko Mohammad Dangote and his private life; the actual number of children he has, his wives and the many women in the life of the richest black person in the world. For the first time, we revealed the “secrets” of the business success of Aliko Mohammad Dangote and draw certain commonalities with other billionaires of the world. Our searchlight did not escape the philanthropic activities of Nigeria’s private employer of labor as well, including his political cum business connections with all Nigerian leaders, beginning with Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the current Nigerian president, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE BOOK                                                                                                                            ALIKO MOHAMMAD DANGOTE                                                                                                                                    THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE RICHEST BLACK PERSON IN THE WORLD

“Like any other denouements of memoir books, the last chapter is the highlight. As a reader, the denouement always takes the heavier weight of a literary merit for memoirs and autobiographies. Also the book provided a comprehensive historical account of main events in Nigeria which made Mr. Dangote of what he is today. Excellent job! You managed to lead the chapters of seeing the different sides of the world of business to be fascinating yet a serious path toward success— Ms Lou Fuentes, Publishing Consultant, Trafford Publishing Company, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

———–.

“We here at the Northern Illinois University, African Students Association would be more than grateful  to have you come and present he book; “Aliko Mohammad Dangote, The Biography of the Richest Black Person in the World,” to us during our association’s week…”— Mr. Michael Agyekum, President, African Students Association (2011-2012), Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois, USA.

———–.

“Congratulations, we have completed our review of your work and you have been accepted as our approved authors—Mr. Tom Wallace, Acquisitions Manager, AEG Publishing Group, Houston, TX, USA.

                                                           ———–.

“A good book based on the preview we have just seen. Great job!–Ms. Shelley Sapyta Bookmasters, Inc. 30 Amberwood Parkway Ashland, OH, USA. 

———–.

“The book on the richest black man in the world will be interesting. I am looking forward to someday reading the actual book… Warmest regards”—Ms Lorene A. Roberson, M.A. Media and Alumni Relations Coordinator, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.

———–.

“I am very happy to hear that you would like to share Mr.  Dangote’s story with our community as well as assist us in accumulating funds to support our future events. … ACA would love to have you as a sponsor. .. We would include an ad for the book in our program and we could even give you an allocated time to speak in front of the crowd and promote the book yourself. Thank you, for reaching out to ACA. I hope we can work together…”Ms Chinwe Echeazu, President, African Cultural Association, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL USA.

———-.

 “Dear Dr Fayemiwo, Thank you very much for considering Yankasa Association as a possible site for the signing of your book. Certainly Mr. Dangote needs to be celebrated by all Africans for his accomplishments…”—Mr. Mohammed Mardah, President Yankasa Association of New York, Inc Bronx, NY, USA.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

MOSHOOD ADEMOLA FAYEMIWO is a former publisher and editor-in-chief of popular Razor magazine and Evening News in Nigeria between 1992 and 1998. A former reporter with the defunct National Concord newspapers; senior reporter, The Herald newspaper, Ilorin; staff writer, with the defunct New breed magazine; staff writer, Sunday Champion newspapers; special project staff writer, the  defunct African Guardian; and senior special project writer/reporter, the  defunct Times Week (Daily Times).

He is an alumnus of the University of Lagos, Nigeria (BA-Education); University of South Florida, and State University of New York (SUNY)-Albany where he earned an MA in Mass Communication, MS in Information Science and Combined MA Degree in African-American History & English Studies respectively His PhD is in Public Administration and Policy. He is the author of Who’s Who of Africans in USA and three other published books in the United States. He was contributing editor for The Informed Constituent newspaper in Albany, New York. He has written for newspapers in Tampa, St Petersburg in Florida, New York and has authored academic articles for scholarly journals in the United States and the UK.

He is a member of several professional organizations. His latest work is co-author of the biography of President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. He is a writer, author, commentator on local and international issues and a businessman. He is the managing director of Alternative Lifestyle Communication, Inc, and lives in Chicago in the United States of America.

MARGIE MARIE NEAL is a former university professor, an education consultant, and a reading coach/classroom teacher with the Chicago Area School System in Illinois, United States. A graduate of State University of New York (SUNY)-Brockport, where she earned her BS in History, MS in Reading from the  Chicago State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she earned her Ed.D –Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She was formerly, president, Chicago Area Reading Association and committee member, International Reading Association, United States. She is a member of several professional organizations on reading and educational development in Chicago, USA. She is the president of Alternative Lifestyle Communication Inc., Chicago, and lives in Chicago in the United States of America.

Nigeria: Boko Haram - More Complicated Than You Think

By Richard Dowden, 9 March 2012
analysis.

Nothing in Nigeria is what it seems. Beneath a confusing, disorderly surface lie networks of association and obligation of which outsiders, and sometimes insiders, are unaware. Money is chopped (stolen), people paid off, budgets looted and shared. Power, political and financial, is never transparent.

In other nation states a citizen's obligations to the state or employer, trump friendship or family connections. In Nigeria the state and institutions often rank far lower than personal affiliations. Outsiders are often shocked at the way public institutions are looted and distributed to buy personal loyalty or simply given to family and friends. The state is not a revered institution serving all citizens. It is a treasure house of power and money to be captured and looted.

This, rather than Islamic fundamentalism, is the context of the tragic deaths of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara in a bungled rescue bid in Sokoto on Thursday. A group calling itself Al-Qa'ida in the Land Beyond the Sahel claimed responsibility and it is said to be part of Boko Haram. Officials say that the demands they had made for the release of the hostages were confused.

What do we know about Boko Haram? It means Western education (books) is sinful and it is a nickname for Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad which means The Group Committed to Propagating the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad. So far this fits in with a tradition of Islamic fundamentalist movements that have emerged in northern Nigeria over the past two centuries. Some but not all have been violent.

Boko Haram was a peaceful, if fundamentalist, Islamic movement from its beginnings in 2002 until its leader, Mohamed Yusuf, was brutally tortured to death by the police in 2009. The torture was captured on film by the police and gave Boko Haram a terrific boost. It then demanded an Islamist state in Northern Nigeria (note - not the whole of Nigeria) and started attacking Christian churches and police stations. The attacks were crude, using home made bombs.

Last year Boko Haram was transformed. The bombings of the Police and UN headquarters in Abuja, the capital, which killed more than 100 people were suicide bombings - a phenomenon previously unknown in Nigeria. The culture of Nigeria is mercenary but you cannot pay people to kill themselves. This was real commitment or brainwashing. Secondly, the bombers were using sophisticated explosive devices and thirdly the attacks were on key government institutions. At its core Boko Haram does seem to have very serious intent, it is organised and well-funded and some of its operatives are well trained in techniques developed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

However, in the months following the UN bombing, all sorts of attacks were claimed by Boko Haram. Many of them did not seem to fit its ideology and in November last year the State Security Service issued a statement saying that it had identified four criminal syndicates which were issuing statements or threats in the name of Boko Haram. There have been some bizarre incidents - such as the bombing of a church claimed apparently by Boko Haram which turned out to have been perpetrated by a disaffected member. At least one northern state governor has paid Boko Haram to attack his rivals. A former senior Nigerian government official I spoke with yesterday said that there is a strong suspicion that if you want to settle old scores or kill rivals in Northern Nigeria these days, now is the time to do it. You can always claim it in the name of Boko Haram. That adds real fear to your threats and demands.

And it is not just Boko Haram which benefits from the global fear of terrorism. My friend went on to point out that a quarter of Nigeria's budget of almost $30 billion this year will be spent on the military and security services. The service chiefs will now have to find - or create something - to justify that and keep it flowing.

Many of the northern highways are studded with police road blocks which have an excuse and official blessing to engage in a bit of highway robbery. It is very difficult to get through any Nigerian roadblock without 'dashing' - paying - the police. But the police are small beer compared to the army. This is the biggest chance the generals have had to 'chop' since military rule ended in 1999. Unless they have changed completely, the senior officers will not allow the justification for this level of spending to diminish or die. They now have a major stake in Nigeria's 'war on terror'.

This is also the case for northern Nigerian politicians who have been funding and possibly even directing Boko Haram. They saw how the politicians of the Niger Delta manipulated the gangs which were attacking oil installations and demanding that oil companies did more for the local communities. The end result was that political power shifted to the Delta with a Delta man as president. If the Delta could do that, so could the north, which has finally lost political power in Nigeria after almost 50 years.

And the ordinary people of Nigeria? 150 million of them, more than 60% under 25 years old. 90% of them live on less than $2 a day. Until they see some hope of a future, their loyalty to the state, law, order and stability is easily undermined.

As Prime Minister David Cameron is discovering, dealing with terrorism in Nigeria is not straightforward.

Richard Dowden is Director of the Royal African Society.

THE SONG OF SACRIFICE......

Ogunyemi Olaitan Bukola

The hut at the back of the palace is my abode
And from there many evils my eyes have beheld
The bastion bubbles with depravity
The village rumbles with rarity

So stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

The king and his chiefs are having a feast
While the future of the land hangs in balance
This year’s harvest is the worst in history
The people stricken by hunger as if by thunder

So stuff your belly with sweet delicacies
Stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

The skies have refused to cry upon the land
The people groan aloud under the weight of drought
So the royal jugs are filled with wine
To stupor the king drinks every other night

So pour whiskey down your sacred throats
Stuff your bellies with sweet delicacies
Stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

A man with his wife has the oracle forbidden
So the gods may be appeased and favour the land
I saw the king lure a woman into his chamber
The wife of the guard at the top of the tower

So lay down amidst smooth-skinned virgins
Pour whiskey down your sacred throats
Stuff your bellies with sweet delicacies
Stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

Bags of gold lay stored up in royal rooms
Into which pound-foolish hands dip unrestrained
While a workman could scarcely get his wage
Penury covers the land like haze in harmattan

So fill your purses with freshly minted coins
Lay down amidst smooth-skinned virgins
Pour whiskey down your sacred throats
Stuff your bellies with sweet delicacies
Stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

Women in tattered wrappers look on in unending grief
As their naked children scavenge
with pigs nearby
The prince rides past in his iridescent apparel
Royal wardrobes are filled with unworn garments

So clothe yourselves in grandiose attires
Fill your purses with freshly minted coins
Lay down amidst smooth-skinned virgins
Pour whiskey down your sacred throats
Stuff your bellies with sweet delicacies
Stand on the porticoes of your ritzy castles
And sing to me about sacrifice

You steal my cow and placate me with a frog
My tolerance for your profligacy wears thinner daily
“The poor people do not understand it” you said
“The rich people will not understand it” I say

So sing me now your song of sacrifice
And in time I will sing you my song of mutiny.

REFLECTING ON OUR JANUARY UPRISING: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS [JAYE GASKIA]...

 

IN LIEU OF AN INTRODUCTION:

This will not be the anticipated long exploratory and analytical contemplation about our recent collective experience in general, and the January Uprising in particular; one that is expected to shine some light on theory and practice of our unfolding Revolution. Nevertheless, this will be, however short, a cursory attempt to understand the significance and lessons of that Uprising, and its place in the unfolding Global Revolutionary Crisis.

THE WORLD HISTORIC CONTEXT:

The defining characteristic of the present moment in world history are; the Global and comprehensive crises of capitalism on the one hand; and the Global and intensifying Resistance of the Victims of that crises on the other hand!
The first has led the Global Ruling Classes and their allies not being able to continue to rule in the Old Way (implementation of austerity and belt tightening measures across the globe; cuts in social spending – removal of subsidies; massive layoffs of workers; collapse of transnational corporations and whole country economies and their consequent bailouts; brought forward/early but inconclusive elections, and resultant hung parliaments and resort to coalition governments etc): While the second has arisen from the oppressed, exploited and ruled classes being no longer willing to be ruled in the Old Way (hence the massive waves of strikes in response to the financial and economic crises across the globe; the Arab spring; the Global Occupy Movement; the general strikes across Europe – UK, Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany etc; the growing protest movement in Chile, India etc; The January Uprising in Nigeria; The February Uprising in Senegal; and along with all these, the toppling of governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Yemen, and ongoing civil war in Syria, etc). [This entire section is an elaboration based on Lenin’s conditions for Revolution].
The resultant effect of the combination of these two sets of conditions have been the ongoing and unfolding Global Revolutionary Crisis, of which the January Uprising in Nigeria [and the act that triggered it – the January 1st announcement of the hike in fuel prices] is an integral part.
Both the Nigerian ruling class which adopted the mantra of subsidy removal as the corner stone of its economic policy; and the Nigerian citizens, the oppressed and over exploited working majority, who responded in anger and unleashed the January Uprising were acting within this global context, within this global social dynamic, within this global overt class struggle, and within this global historic confrontation between the elite privileged and indulged ruling class on the one hand; and the exploited, disdainfully dismissed oppressed ruled working classes on the other hand.
However, it is important and significant to point out that whereas a revolutionary crisis does exist globally as well as in our country; it is not automatic or historically fated that the outcome will be a victorious revolution. There are in fact three possible broad outcomes; A revolutionary victory, leading to the taking of steps to begin the revolutionary social self emancipation of the oppressed and exploited classes, and the revolutionary social transformation of the society; A second possible outcome, is the victory of the counter revolution – either by conservative [those who intend to main the essence and appearance of the status quo intact] or by reformist [those who recognize the urgent necessity to change the appearance of the system in response to the demands and anger of the revolution, but who are intent on retaining the essence of the system intact] wings of the ruling class; And finally there is also a third possible outcome – the mutual exhaustion of the opposing classes in struggle, that is of both the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces; and the elevation into power of a third force, arising from the middle classes, wedded to the ruling upper class, and attempting to arbitrate between the contending classes while granting reforms, intensifying repression, and retaining the essential character of the old order [Fascism was such an outcome, the various police state dictatorships under military jackboots, are some other variants of this outcome].
It is in this sense that it is true that every revolutionary situation is also conversely, that is at one and the same time, a counter-revolutionary situation; because revolutionary victory is by no means automatic and inevitable.

THE JANUARY UPRISING:

If anyone still doubts the revolutionary implications of the January Uprising, then we should take a deeper look at interpreting the actions and inactions of the major social forces who were locked into this historic, and quite overt class confrontation, which had moved from the realm of the mere daily and routine class struggle, to the realm of the more intense class warfare in the space of days.
The January Uprising was triggered in the immediate sense, by the instant debilitating impact of the January 1st announcement hiking fuel price by the unprecedented 118%. The effect on living conditions was immediate and generalized touching both the lower and middle classes adversely. Trotsky it was who once said that to a slap on the cheek, human beings react differently; but to being hit by a sledge hammer, human beings will react in the same way. This was what the impact of the January 1st announcement led to: generalized anger and a willingness and yet unconscious determination to fight back.
It was this seismic shift in popular consciousness which the regime and the fractions of the ruling class cohering around it failed to understand, factor into their calculations or eventually recognize when it hit them in the face! They were unable to understand this seismic shift, manifested in this generalized anger and action because from the very beginning their analysis of the situation refracted through the blighted spectrum of the comfort of the ruling and privileged elite, had prevented them from ever contemplating that such an action would have such a grave impact on the poor, let alone the middle class! Those elevated to the position of running our economy could not and did not understand the very nature of that economy; the centrality of the availability and affordability of petrol to the stability of the conditions of existence of the ordinary citizens in particular, and the stability of the economy and polity in general! Haven never had to pay for petrol from their own pockets over the last decade and a half, they could not understand the impact of their policy of hiking fuel prices on the majority of the citizenry who have to pay for the product from their meager earnings, and who also do not have access to looted state funds!
But confronted with the anger which erupted into organised mass protests almost immediately, and particularly from the 3rd of January; and which became significantly enhanced with the conscious entrance of organised labour through the two labour federations from the 9th of January; the regime became overwhelmed by the scale, scope, and also [let it be said] implications [immense potential] of the Uprising.
It was in this sense that the regime began to put pressure on the leadership of the uprising, and began to strategically deploy psychological warfare on the leadership. One approach was to continue to hammer on what it called the deteriorating security situation; the hijack of the protests by hoodlums [impoverished youths created as a result of the policies of the ruling elite, which have exiled a sizeable portion of the population to live on the fringes of society]; including the allegation that the general strike and mass protest was providing a platform for their political opponents in the opposition to undertake what the regime called a regime change agenda. And every now and then, throughout the Uprising, and in the course of the engagements between the government side and the leadership of the uprising, the specter of bringing in the army to restore order was always brought into the fray. The leadership would also be reminded that the army is not trained to control crowds but to suppress the enemy!
It was because the regime was aware of the revolutionary implications and potential consequence of the January Uprising that it raised the boogie of deteriorating security situation [whose security? The peoples’ security? Or the regime’s security? Throughout the Uprising there was no single threat from Boko Haram etc!]; the boogie of a regime change agenda by the political celebrities; and the subtle threat of bringing in the army to crush the resistance, which it termed restoring order.
But why was the political opposition slow to organise its own protests under its own banner, but quick to seek to take advantage of the popular protest and literally graft itself to the revolutionary podiums provided by the uprising? Why was it quick to sensationally associate itself with and project the limited regime change agenda? Because it felt that an Uprising was taking place, outside of its control, capable of overturning the status quo, and sidelining it, relegating it to a foot note in the historical process. So for two reasons, it had to seek to intervene in the process and be seen to be intervening on the side of the popular masses. So it had to graft itself to the podiums everywhere across the country, and sought to take control of the process. It was helped in this process by a media steeped in sensationalism, and who unwittingly became a tool in the hands of the political opposition, and began to ascribe the movement and the protests to the leadership of the opposition. But let it be said very clearly; the opposition parties played the most deceitful roll in the uprising. We know the ruling party had an official position backing the regime’s policy; but the opposition parties which made public declarations against the policy and in support of the popular protests; had their leading representatives on the joint government delegation which engaged with the joint labour-civil society delegation; which with one voice and one voice piled pressure on the protest leadership to call off the strike and mass actions, and which were part and parcel of the psychological warfare strategy deployed against the joint labour-civil society delegation/leadership.
But why did the joint labour civil society leadership also act in the manner that they acted throughout the Uprising?
From the very beginning there was a common awareness, even if not to the same degree and level, of the potential of the crisis to deepen and raise more fundamental questions about control of state power.
Although there was no common agreement on how this possibility might be handled. The labour leadership was limited by the structure and horizons of the trade union movement; the historic role of the trade union is to mediate between employer and employee, and the historic role of the leadership of this trade union therefore is to organise and undertake this mediation. So from the very beginning, unless it broke with tradition and convention, unless it is compelled by a force from outside of the union movement, it would structurally limit itself to negotiation and mediation. It was in this sense that this labour leadership found itself in a bind, when compelled by its alliance with pro-labour civil society and citizens organisations [primarily organised into the United Action For Democracy (UAD) & Joint Action Front (JAF); it was given the mandate of total reversal to 65 naira – that is to say a mandate not to negotiate any new price, but only to negotiate a return to the status quo before January 1st and the conditions under which proper all embracing dialogue, consultation and negotiation would take place. [By all embracing it is meant, a discussion that includes tackling all the issues in the petroleum sector – corruption, state of refineries, determining actual daily consumption, etc].
Noticing that the labour leadership felt uncomfortable being in this bind, and was therefore more susceptible to pressure and psychological warfare; the joint delegation of the regime [including leadership of the NASS, Representatives (7) of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, and Representatives of the Federal Executive Council of the Federation] began to implement an agenda of subtly introducing a wedge into the Labour-Civil society alliance, disparaging civil society as being unrepresentative, beholden to foreign interest and local political interests etc.
The impact of this was the effective [temporarily in historical terms – because our alliance is a conscious and obligatory solidarity, not an act of charity] ‘parting of ways’ between the labour [NLC & TUC] & Civil Society [UAD & JAF] components of the Labour-Civil Society Coalition [LASCO] which became apparent in the late evening of Sun 15th January into the early hours of Monday 16th January 2012. This division which was already visible in the composition of the delegation that met with the presidency and the joint government team during this hours, became even more evident when the separate components of the alliance addressed separate press conferences on the 16th of January 2012 – Labour, at labour house at 1pm; and Civil society at CDD office at 2.30pm. At the 1pm press conference, the labour leadership announced the unilateral call off of the general strike, after earlier unilaterally announcing in a press statement the unilateral call off of the mass actions and street protests! At the 2.30pm press conference and in subsequent separate press statements [by UAD & JAF], the civil society component of the alliance announced their rejection of the newly imposed price regime in the January 16th address by the president, and the unilateral call off of the actions by the labour leadership.
Why did this happen? Both the labour [NLC & TUC] and civil society [UAD & JAF] had come to an understanding of the deepening character of the crisis, anticipated by the civil society leadership from the beginning; but each drew separate conclusions from this understanding. For the labour leadership, it was time to retreat, to safe guard the unions from repression which was imminent and had already been placed on the agenda; and which was going to be unleashed from the 16th of January if there was no resolution by the 15th of January. For the civil society [UAD & JAF], this was the time to intensify the actions, to up the ante, by for example beginning the shutdown of oil operations and the actual more or less permanent occupation of strategic places across the country. We had no doubt that if the deepened general strike and mass protests entered the second week across the country, that the regime will be faced with the choice of either throwing caution to the wind and beginning a brutal repression as in Syria or Libya before it; or will cave in and return to status quo ante. After-all we had offered the regime a 90 day window of opportunity after a return to status quo ante within which a genuine dialogue process aimed at addressing all the issues in the sector would take place.
So in very concrete terms all the parties to the conflict encapsulated by the January Uprising were aware of its revolutionary implications and potentials, and were guided in their responses by these awareness and the various class interests that they sought to protect in the crisis.

THE UPRISING ON THE STREETS:

There can be no doubt now that the January Uprising was unprecedented in the history of our country, both in its scale – active mass protests & general strike (occupying of the streets and work stoppage); in its scope – happening simultaneously across the country (in virtually every state of the federation and across well over 50 cities and towns); but also as well as in its impact on popular and pan Nigerian consciousness – the retreat of primordial identities (Muslims & Christians praying and marching together – 1st undertaken in Kano even in the pre January 9th days; people from different parts of the country and from all works of life marching together across the country).
The most significant expression in language of this new Pan Nigerian Consciousness and Unity, was the concept and symbolism of OCCUPY! Every city where action took place described itself as Occupy; some new groups emerged and actually adopted the name Occupy Nigeria [which was expressed as either Occupy Nigeria City-State Chapter e.g Occupy Nigeria Abuja chapter; or as Occupy – name of the city/state, e.g Occupy PortHarourt & Occupy Kogi. In one of the most visible expression of this new emergent reality; all media coverage was filled with stories of Occupy activities; and security agents also admiring the new Occupy spirit of Nigerians as in the expression by some security agents: ‘Nigerians are just Occupying everywhere’.
One other clear manifestation of the spirit of the new times, which demonstrates the nature of the seismic shift in popular consciousness and the real opportunities for change and transformation were incidences on the street when members of the police force actually either joined/participated in marches or very clearly cooperated with protesters during the protests; or when security guards at the gates of the National Assembly [NASS] or the gates of the villa, whisper to the joint labour-civil society delegation not to compromise and to protect the interests of ordinary Nigerians!
More significantly however was the actual build up of the street protests and mass actions in the course of the uprising! Each new day, a new city or town would join; and each new day the population actively participating in the protests would double or increase significantly! Lagos and Kano attracted active participants in the millions; and Abuja attracted unprecedented population of active participants in the region of half a million by Thursday 12th & Friday 13th of January 2012.
The slogans on the street were also changing and with it came more political demands! The regime and its supporters had thought and even boasted that the protest would not take place; and when it actually began, that it would not last more than 2 or 3 days! This was responsible for the flurry of activities including the House of Representative resolution procured during an unprecedented session of that house (– on a Sunday and with members recalled from holiday!) on January 8th on the eve of the general strike and nationwide mass actions! It was also responsible for the panic mode of the regime after Wednesday 11th January, when the federal government and the governor’s forum through the instrumentality of the leadership of the Senate took over the negotiations and engagements, with the active supervision of the presidency. From that moment on it was clear that the regime wanted a resolution within that week!
The firs flurry of activities spearheaded by the House of Representatives was to prevent the general strike and the nationwide mass action taking off; the second flurry of activities under the presidency and anchored by the Senate leadership was to terminate the general strike and nationwide mass actions as soon as possible, and to prevent it entering a second week.
In this everyone seemed to be agreed that entering a second week without some resolution would deepen the crisis to a degree where its outcome could no longer be safely predicted. On the streets in response to the disbelief of the regime in the sustainability of the mass street protests by the masses; such slogans as: ‘They said we shall be tired after 3 days; but if they do not meet our demands, we shall be tired of them after 5 days’! The import of this on a sitting government could not have been overlooked!

UNDERLYING THE SEISMIC SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS:

Driving this popular anger unleashed was the deleterious and instantly debilitating impact of the January 1st announcement on the overwhelming majority of the citizens. It was this anger, which neither the regime nor the ruling class fractions cohering around it could understand; that also drove the deepening of positions on the streets as the intransigence and insensitivity of the regime became even more manifest.
Two sets of social forces in broad generational terms, came together to make the Uprising: The first were youths, and their new formations, inspired by the Arab spring, threatened by the impact of the global financial and economic crisis, and unencumbered by the tempering experience of previous defeats, since they had not been parts of those earlier upheavals, and had therefore not directly tasted in the defeats even if they had been inspired by tales of those experiences.
The second were the veterans of the past upheavals, experienced, having a clearer understanding of the situation and its potential, but hampered by excessive caution, a product of past defeats and repression.
But the coming together of these two generational activist forces, over the previous period of organising, mobilising, and awareness raising in several forums and through several media, including active and political use of the new social media; produced a combustible mix which was set alight by the impact of the January 1st Announcement!
Of course neither of these generational activist formations acted outside of class; rather they acted more or less consciously within parameters defined by the class struggle; and played more or less class conscious roles in the making of the Uprising from the beginning of active awareness raising in about July-August 2011, to the tentative and preparatory direct mass class actions undertaken in a number of cities between October and December 2011 [Benin, Ibadan, Lagos, Osogbo, Ilesha, etc].

THE IMPLICATION OF OCCUPYING:

What does it mean to Occupy? And quite a number of seasoned and experienced activists had either dismissed or questioned the strategy of Occupy in the period leading up to the January Uprising.
To Occupy is to project a counter power to that of the ruling class, to that of the status quo; or any of its institutions being targeted. So it presents a range of counter power projections from say the management of a corporation/business; through the symbolic power of whole sectors of the economy (for example Wall street symbolizing the financial sector]; through the political power of a part of the state and or its territory [say against a City council etc]; to the political power of the state/country – through the initiation of the Dual Power Situation [as with the Occupation of Tahir Square, Benghazi etc] and the victorious supplanting of the existing state power by the popular organ of power which had been at the core of the initiated Dual Power Situation.
Therefore to proclaim an aim To Occupy Nigeria; and proceed to organise mass actions executed as Occupying parts of the territories of Nigeria as part of Occupy Nigeria; is to at the very least declare an unconscious intent to radically transform the nature of the polity and the social order. It is a call to revolution, a prelude to revolution.
To want to Occupy Nigeria; is to seek actively or passively, consciously or semi consciously the Revolutionary Social Transformation of the Socio-economic Order in the Country; it is to desire a rupture with the past and present so radical and abrupt as to constitute a Revolutionary remaking or reconstitution of the entity.
This is what the ruling class understood by our actions in the January Uprising, but which consciousness was and is still not yet equally clear to all the social elements, social forces and individuals who participated in the January Uprising.
And against the backdrop of the continuing rot in the system, the continued business as usual processes as if nothing happened in January; this is what needs to happen to Take Back Our Country From the alliance of Treasury Looters and Cabals in Business and the Economy. It is this sense that we need to find ways of deepening our revolution; prepare for the next uprising [which will soon enough be forced on us again]; and Continue Our Revolution until victory!

LESSONS OF THE JANUARY UPRISING:

In lieu of a conclusion; what can we learn from our January Uprising? What must we take from this uprising to inform our participation in the next uprising in such a way as to assure a different, and revolutionary outcome from this time around?
1. We need to build a nationwide and Pan Nigerian political platform that will consciously challenge this thieving, looting and decadent ruling class for state power. And a platform built upon the networks and harvests of activists and activist formations which played active roles in the January Uprising.
2. This political platform must retain the alliance with organised labour, but must be autonomous and strong enough to actually be a check on the waverings of the labour leadership, and act without the labour leadership while taking the mass of working people organised in the trade unions with along with it.
3. The Social Media can and have played a quite significant role in the mobilisation of popular consciousness and in raising awareness; but it cannot substitute for real live organisations, and concrete real live organising activities. In this sense it can only supplement the organisation. It can play effectively play the role of a collective Organiser, Educator, Mobiliser for a conscious political platform.

If we do not take concrete steps to build this political platform, we leave any uprising that again occurs open to being hijacked by dissident sections of the ruling class, or what is saying the same thing; we risk letting these opportunist elements, who have a stake in retaining the essence of the status quo, become the beneficiaries of the uprising; as they became in the aftermath of our anti military struggle and the Uprising triggered by the June Twelve Crisis!

By Jaye Gaskia
National Convener
United Action For Democracy [UAD]
March 2012.