DOJ warns Robert Mueller not to veer from Russia report’s written conclusions at Capitol Hill hearing
Former special counsel Robert Mueller is set to testify Wednesday before two House committees, his first appearance since concluding the Russia probe.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department Monday warned former special counsel Robert Mueller that his upcoming congressional testimony should not stray from the written conclusions outlined in the 448-page final report of the two-year investigation into Russian election interference.
“Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement…and presidential communications privileges,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote in a two-page letter to Mueller two days before his scheduled testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
Weinsheimer also cautioned that Mueller should abide by terms that the former special counsel discussed in May during his first public appearance following the report’s delivery earlier this spring.
“Specifically, that the information you discuss during testimony appears in, and does not go beyond, the public versions of your March 22, 2019 (final) report to the attorney general or your May 29 public statement,” Weinsheimer said.
Earlier Monday, Mueller spokesman Jim Popkin said the former FBI director would not veer from his written conclusions. He added that the former special counsel intended to deliver an opening statement that is expected to closely track his first public remarks about the case in May when he defended the investigation he supervised, and refused to clear President Donald Trump of criminal wrongdoing, asserting that bringing obstruction charges was “not an option” because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
In a brief televised statement in May, Mueller recounted his report’s overall findings, saying Russia launched a “concerted” effort to interfere with the 2016 election. “There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American,” he said.
At that time, Mueller said the inquiry into Russia’s efforts was one of “paramount importance,” so investigators took seriously efforts by Trump and others to thwart their work. He said the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel prohibited the prosecution of a sitting president, and his team of prosecutors was bound to follow that rule.
Mueller said that if prosecutors had confidence that the president clearly didn’t commit a crime, “we would have said that.”
“The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing,” Mueller said then, describing the department’s rationale for why a president cannot be prosecuted. He did not directly identify that process, but he was referring to the daunting political exercise of impeachment.
While Mueller had hoped that his May statement would be his last, his Wednesday appearances before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees were secured by a subpoena.
Popkin said Mueller would make clear Wednesday that he was testifying because he had been subpoenaed to do so.
The Justice Department letter also underscores the forced nature of Mueller’s testimony.
“As the attorney general has repeatedly stated, the decision to testify before Congress is yours to make in this case, but the department agrees with your stated position that your testimony should be unnecessary under the circumstances,” Weinsheimer wrote.
“The department generally does not permit prosecutors such as you to appear and testify before Congress regarding their investigative and prosecutorial activity.”
Some Democratic lawmakers believe Mueller’s public testimony, even if only a dry recitation of the inquiry’s most damaging findings, could kick-start support for impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Trump administration pursues rule that would remove 3.1 million people from food stamps
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday will propose a rule to tighten food stamp restrictions that would cut about 3.1 million people from the program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials said.
Currently, 43 U.S. states allow residents to automatically become eligible for food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, if they receive benefits from another federal program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, according to the USDA.
But the agency wants to require people who receive TANF benefits to pass a review of their income and assets to determine whether they are eligible for free food from SNAP, officials said.
If enacted, the rule would save the federal government about $2.5 billion a year by removing people from SNAP, according to the USDA.
U.S. President Donald Trump has argued that many Americans now using SNAP do not need it given the strong economy and low unemployment, and should be removed as a way to save taxpayers as much as $15 billion.
“Some states are taking advantage of loopholes that allow people to receive the SNAP benefits who would otherwise not qualify and for which they are not entitled,” USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters on a conference call on Monday.
SNAP provides free food to some 40 million Americans, or about 12% of the total U.S. population.
A Trump-backed effort to pass new restrictions through the Farm Bill was blocked by Congress last year, following a months-long, partisan debate.
The USDA does not need congressional approval, however, to stop states from automatically allowing recipients of TANF benefits to become eligible for SNAP, said Brandon Lipps, a USDA acting deputy undersecretary.
Current rules allow people to access SNAP benefits worth thousands of dollars for two years without going through robust eligibility reviews, he told reporters on the call.
“Unfortunately, automatic eligibility has expanded to allow even millionaires and others who simply receive a TANF-funded brochure to become eligible for SNAP when they clearly don’t need it,” Lipps said.
The USDA will accept public comment on the proposed rule change.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in December estimated the rule could save the federal government $8.1 billion from 2019 to 2028, lower than the USDA’s estimate.
In 2016, the CBO said arguments against the change included concerns that it would eliminate benefits for households in difficult financial situations and increase the complexity and time involved in verifying information on SNAP applications.
Mayor Sylvester Turner is officially on ballot
Mayor Turner…. “That’s what drives me to get ready for the next big hurricane, bring more jobs and opportunity to our city, keep our city safe and find the money to fix the roads – no matter what part of town you live in.”
HOUSTON
– Mayor Sylvester Turner filed his paperwork today to appear on the ballot
for a second term in the November 5 city election. Today is the first day that
candidates can file.
“Every
voice in Houston matters,” said Mayor Turner. “That’s what drives me to get
ready for the next big hurricane, bring more jobs and opportunity to our city,
keep our city safe and find the money to fix the roads – no matter what part of
town you live in.
“Together,
we went through Hurricane Harvey and came out stronger,” said the mayor.
“Together, we saved our city from bankruptcy by fixing the pension crisis.
Together, we’ve created more than 80,000 jobs in our region in the last year
and brought Houston’s unemployment rate down to the lowest it’s been in years.
“I
am grateful for the support I’m receiving from every corner of Houston,”
continued Mayor Turner. “We’re running a grassroots campaign that Houstonians
can be proud of. Please join us – there is a place for everyone on our
campaign.”
From
a booming economy to budgetary responsibility to flood mitigation to
multi-modal transportation, Houston has proven to be strong, resilient and
sustainable under the leadership of Mayor Turner:
In
the past year, 82,900 jobs have been created in the region, leading to the
lowest unemployment rate in years. The technology sector in particular has
exploded with a 140% increase in technology jobs. Verizon established its first
5G phone system in the world in Houston. Microsoft considers Houston one of its
top three accelerators. Houston is not walking, it’s sprinting to become
Silicon Bayou. And we have expanded Hire Houston Youth from 450 jobs when the
mayor took office in 2016 to more than 11,000 jobs this year.
Overall
reported crime was down 4.39 percent for 2018 with violent crime decreasing a
whopping 10.4 percent. Rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults all declined.
Since
2016, City Council has approved four balanced budgets. This year’s budget funds
five police cadet classes and has no layoffs. Pension reform has lowered the
city’s unfunded liability from $8.2 billion to $4 billion and the city is now
paying the full annual pension costs for the third year in a row.
Build
Houston Forward (formerly Rebuild Houston), Houston’s pay-as-you-go, dedicated
fund for drainage and streets, was reauthorized by the voters in a landslide.
Now the city is working on accelerating the repair and rehabilitation of
drainage and streets, with a greater focus on neighborhood projects.
To
prepare for and prevent future flooding, we have added more high-water rescue
assets and more technology and sensors. The city borrowed $46 million from the
Texas Water Development Board to help the Harris County Flood Control District
complete Project Brays, which will widen the channels of Brays Bayou and
retrofit bridges. New regulations will require higher construction of buildings
in the floodplain.
Flood
hazard mitigation grant funding of $275 million will focus on four projects:
More gates in Lake Houston to protect Kingwood; improvement to the North Canal
to reduce downtown flood risks from Buffalo and White Oak Bayous; a detention
basin project in northwest Houston in cooperation with TIRZ 17; and turning the
former Inwood golf course into a detention basin. It doesn’t require a
hurricane to flood a community; it can be a system that dumps ten inches of
rain in a six hour period, as we saw recently in Kingwood.
Park
equity in Houston is becoming a reality in Houston. We have big, signature
parks that are absolute gems. But we can’t have complete communities without
parks and green space; parks can transform a neighborhood for the better. Mayor
Turner has created the 50-for-50 program and is asking corporations and other
organizations to adopt a neighborhood park and work with the local community
with both dollars and volunteers to transform their park. And the Mayor is
about halfway to his goal.
METRO
is bringing forth, with the mayor’s support, a bold plan to increase and
improve multi-modal transportation — with funds for sidewalks and road
improvements; new HOV lanes on freeways; more park and rides; bus rapid
transit; and more rail.
After
ten years without a resolution, Mayor Turner has negotiated an agreement with
the EPA that will lower the city’s potential liability for improvements to the
sewer system from an estimated $5 billion to an estimated $2 billion. This
agreement will allow Houston to ensure continued protection of the environment
and residents’ health while improving the system performance for generations to
come.
Fall of moral standards – fighting corruption must start from the school curriculum
A society is measured by the quality of undergraduates it
produces and the moral character of those entering the work force. This is why they
are considered the future leaders, and this is why they are believed to be the foundation
of societal political and economic success. Unfortunately, in today’s Nigeria, Bachelor
degree holders are the kingpins of corruption on the internet. Some of these young men and women are so sophisticated
and advanced in the internet fraud that the western world has to invent new
technology to keep up with their crime wave
By Dominic (Big D) Ikeogu
One wonders why these young men and women would choose such lifestyle
after their education career. Does this
means that they did not receive any lessons on ethics while in school? Or do we just blame this on the quality of
education they receive?
When I was in school, my lessons on values were very constructive. I was thought upon graduation, to go out in
the society and use my knowledge to make the world better. Other valuable
lessons were:
Fighting for those who do not have the
opportunity I had, and becoming their voice and hope
Fighting for injustice wherever they exist, and
treating those under me with respect and dignity
Desisting from using my education to oppress
others, and remaining fair to my enemies
Remain environmentally conscious, and making the
earth a little be better than I find it
Remain conscious that taking bribery is morally
wrong and would defeat the purpose of my degree
And finally differentiating myself from others
and becoming a shimmering example to them to emulate
As they said, education makes a people easy to lead but
difficult to drive; easy to govern but impossible to enslave. However, this is not
true in Nigeria. This country has one of the highest level of education
standards, yet majority are still enslaved with the worst corruption known to
mankind.
But this quote from Bishop kukah got me thinking too:
” Nigeria Educational system surprising outcomes: The smartest student passes with first class and get admitted to medical and engineering schools, the second class student get MBA’s and LLB’s to manage the first class students. The third class students enter politics and rule both the first class and second class students. The failures enter the underworld of crime and control the politicians and business. And the worst of all, those who did not attend school at all become prophets and imams and start teaching bigotry and hatred and everyone follows them. What a paradox of life. This can only happen in Nigeria where corruption is the life blood and order and a way of ordinary life in this part of the world “
I appreciate Bishop Kukah for intelligently analyzing the
deep symptoms – describing the country
as it is and highlighting the structure of their failure.
Finally, I could offer my own thoughts regarding solutions
to corruption in the Nigeria society. Of course, it is necessary that the
government both the state, local, and the federal government must have in place
comprehensive ethical guidelines to regulate every employee. This document must
be endorsed by every employee as covenant for moral decency. Furthermore:
Government at all levels, must adopt the
teaching of ethics in the school curriculum
Training on ethics must also be embedded in the
workforce system. This could be applied to both the public and private sector.
Effective or rather applicable penalty for
ethical violations must be legislated to deter culprits as well as punish
offenders.
If these measures are strictly enforced, Nigeria as you know
it today would gradually become corrupting-free within a substantial amount of
time.
Thank you for reading
this piece and give me your honest feedback
@ ikeogud@gamil.com or respond to my Facebook page, click >>>
God Bless You.
BIG D – Dominic Ikeogu
The shame of amoral witchery: Obasanjo’s abuse of elder statesmanship
He led the most corrupt administration in the Nation’s history; groomed a gang dubious politicians and contractors who had raped Nigeria’s economy and political prospects almost beyond redemption.
By ANTHONY OBI OGBO
Eldership is not a position but a legacy of great sagacity.
It is a title earned through the ability to influence subordinates through
knowledge, sheer experience, understanding, unequivocal judgements, and
commonsense. The core values of elder statesmanship are not just built on age,
but grounded in virtues synchronized with ethics and kind-heartedness.
In other words, it is fair to say that a former South
African president, Nelson Mandela was an elder statesman. This clarification is
necessary for most individuals or perhaps analysts who would erroneously refer
to every aged politician or community leader as elder statesman with the least
consideration of the values each of them live.
A former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo is one of
such politicians unknown by those who followed his political choices and
actions. For clarity, Pa Obasanjo is an 82-old senior who has ruled
Nigeria twice – as a civilian and once a military junta, and who
still has not giving up his hunger for absolute power. From 2007 when he
concluded his service as his nation’s civilian leader, this man has not given
up his drunkenness for power and public resources, rather, he had pervaded the
political system in the most twisted manner; destroyed younger politicians who
would not partake in his treachery and bullied others who still worshipped him
like a demigod.
As if this wasn’t enough, Iyabo, lashed out another frustration with a father she publicly disowned, stating “We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct cruelty and also suffered the consequences of your stupidity but got none of the benefits of your successes.”
But among almost a thousand descriptions of this former
President by those who claimed they knew him, only his daughter, Dr. Iyabo
Obasanjo has rendered his portrait with unimpeachable accuracy. One good thing
about women is that they can tell their own blood better without forensic
evidence. Hence, Iyabo knew her dad in-and-out, describing him as a
“narcissistic megalomaniac personality” who would always “accuse someone else
of what he so obviously practice.”
As if this wasn’t enough, Iyabo, lashed out another
frustration with a father she publicly disowned, stating “We, your family, have
borne the brunt of your direct cruelty and also suffered the consequences of
your stupidity but got none of the benefits of your successes.” This
was in 2013.
Also, it may be recalled that in 2008, Pa Obasanjo’s own son, Gbenga, in an affidavit following a messy divorce case with his wife, Mojisola, accused this former president of having sex with his wife as an exchange for government contracts. I do not mean to dig up these issues about Pa Obasanjo, but his tenacious underhanded advances into Nigeria’s leadership system, from regime-to-regime, necessitate making a few references of his ramshackle credibility and deceitful claims of eldership.
But did he actually resign as an elder statesman? Not really. Obasanjo joined forces with the opposition and secretly began to trade-off confidential information in his possession to destroy PDP, the same party that drove him through two tenures of presidency. He wrote a public letter and fabricated destructive intelligence allegations to destroy the incumbent then, former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom he politically groomed and installed.
After his presidency tenure, when he became
the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), Obasanjo handled his business selfishly, and
mean-heartedly split his party into political in-groups. He created diminutive
rebellious factions and positioned them to fight each other. After the aged leader
was done, he cunningly resigned from his party’s top leadership position in
2012, claiming that he wanted to fulfill his duties as a statesman locally and
internationally.
But did he actually resign as an elder statesman? Not
really. Obasanjo joined forces with the opposition and secretly began to
trade-off confidential information in his possession to destroy PDP, the same
party that drove him through two tenures of presidency. He wrote a public
letter and fabricated destructive intelligence allegations to destroy the
incumbent then, former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom he politically groomed
and installed. But the major reason behind these ugly advances was because
President Jonathan rightfully adopted a governance process that sidestepped Obasabjo’s
despotic influence and selfish political demands – a culture of
appointing political leaders for elective offices behind closed doors – telling
candidates when to run and when not to run for offices; and controlling all
government offices like a flat screen with the remote.
So, with the aforementioned thesis of the evils of his
political witchery, why would Obasanjo be trusted with policy-making thoughts
and reflections? Earlier this week, he published another letter – a crafted
fiction of mass-destruction which he addressed to President Buhari, warning
that “Nigeria is on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping
point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay.” What nonsense!
In Promoting President Buhari’s candidacy against the then incumbent, President Jonathan in 2015, Obasanjo said, “I hope that we will not have a coup – I hope we can avoid it.” This is exactly Obasanjo’s trademark – an illustration of hopeless rubbish with ulterior motives.
With Obasanjo’s injurious influence, the issue becomes
conceivable, on why any electorate who wants peace, progress, and unity in
Nigeria would accord him any attention. Besides these controversial letters
where he would usually fabricate allegations to throw his country into chaos,
Obasanjo has consistently made damaging comments to ensure a failure of any
regime that scorns his dubious advances. For instance, in Promoting President
Buhari’s candidacy against the then incumbent, President Jonathan in 2015,
Obasanjo said, “I hope that we will not have a coup – I hope we can avoid it.”
This is exactly Obasanjo’s trademark – an illustration of hopeless rubbish with
ulterior motives.
Obasanjo is not an elder statesman but an over-aged wizard intoxicated by coercive power and arrogance. Within his eight-year presidency, he led the most corrupt administration in the Nation’s history; groomed a gang dubious politicians and contractors who had raped Nigeria’s economy and political prospects almost beyond redemption. Further, he ran an apprenticeship of dubious power merchants and lobbyists who infiltrate the system with crooked politicians.
Obasanjo is not an elder statesman but an over-aged wizard intoxicated by coercive power and arrogance. Within his eight-year presidency, he led the most corrupt administration in the Nation’s history; groomed a gang dubious politicians and contractors who had raped Nigeria’s economy and political prospects almost beyond redemption. Further, he ran an apprenticeship of dubious power merchants and lobbyists who infiltrate the system with crooked politicians. Today, most of Obasanjo’s “students” are still within the boundaries of policy-making caucus, causing havoc in the system.
But for Nigerians who still play the Russian roulette with their national unity, it must be noted that this region endured thousands of lives, punitive decrees, never-ending transition processes, absurd economic programs, and spiritual interventions to finally expunge the junta virus from their governmental system. Letters of Obasanjo therefore remain a dangerous option to sustaining this democracy. Finally, please note that Obasanjo is a choice not a constitutional obligation – therefore you may follow him at your own risk.
State District Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado, center, speaks briefly to members of the media with his attorney Adolfo “Al” Alvarez, right, after posting bond for charges of bribery Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in McAllen.
A Texas state district judge has been convicted of bribery and obstruction, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick for the Southern District of Texas.
Following a six-day trial, Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado, 65, of Edinburg, Texas, was convicted of one count of Conspiracy; three counts of Federal Program Bribery; three counts of Travel Act Bribery and one count of Obstruction of Justice. Delgado was originally charged in January 2018 by complaint, and then indicted in February 2018. The grand jury issued three superseding indictments.
“Corrupt judges can harm a community’s confidence in our judicial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “Today’s verdict takes an important step toward restoring that confidence, and affirms that no one – especially not a judge – is above the law.”
“The bribery of a judge may be the worst break of the publics’ trust in government,” said U.S. Attorney Patrick. “Rudy Delgado used his position to enrich himself. He didn’t just tip the scales of justice, he knocked it over with a wad of cash and didn’t look back. Delgado’s actions unfairly tarnish all his former colleagues.”
Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado reads a prepared statement announcing his resignation as judge of the 93rd state District Court Monday, April 30, 2018, at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg. Delgado has been the presiding judge of the court since January 2001.
Delgado is currently a justice in the Thirteenth Court of Appeals for the State of Texas. He was previously the presiding judge for the 93rd District Court for the State of Texas, which has jurisdiction over Texas criminal and civil cases located within Hidalgo County. As a district judge, Delgado conspired with an attorney from January 2008 to November 2016 to accept bribes in exchange for favorable judicial consideration on criminal cases pending in his courtroom.
As part of an investigation conducted by the FBI, Delgado also accepted bribes on three separate occasions in exchange for agreeing to release three of the attorney’s clients on bond in cases pending before his court. The first two bribes totaled approximately $520 in cash and the third bribe, which occurred in January 2018, totaled approximately $5,500 in cash. After Delgado learned of the FBI’s investigation, he also attempted to obstruct justice by contacting the attorney and providing a false story about the payments.
Sentencing has been set for Sept. 25, 2019. Delgado was permitted to remain on bond pending sentencing.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Trial Attorney Peter Nothstein of the Criminal Divison’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arthur “Rob” Jones and Robert Guerra are prosecuting the case.
Obasanjo’s daughter to Obasanjo: “This is the end of my communication with you for life. I pray Nigeria survives your continual intervention in its affairs”
Obasanjo and his daughter Iyabo (inset). Iyabo’s last words read: “This is the end of my communication with you for life. I pray Nigeria survives your continual intervention in its affairs”
In multiple failed attempts to get the attention of the
regime, the former president Olusegun Obasanjo finally released a letter on
Monday addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, warning that “Nigeria is on the precipice and dangerously
reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at
bay”.
Below is the full unedited version of Iyabo’s letter to the father she knew – the mother of all letters.
But most Nigerians knew Obasanjo’s letter-writing strategy to incite tension in the populace anytime he has issues with the incumbent. This strategy was completely exposed in December 2013 by Obasanjo’s own daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, in a lengthy open letter accusing his dad of viciously and constantly disrupting the government. Iyabo’s last words read: “This is the end of my communication with you for life. I pray Nigeria survives your continual intervention in its affairs”
December 16, 2013
Open Letter to My Father By Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, PhD
“The great man is he who does not lose his child’s-heart” Mencius, Chinese Philosopher of the 4th century
It brings me no joy to have to write this but since you started this trend of open letters I thought I would follow suit since you don’t listen to anyone anyway. The only way to reach you may be to make the public aware of some things. As a child well brought up by my long-suffering mother in Yoruba tradition, I have been reluctant to tell the truth about you but as it seems you still continue to delude yourself about the kind of person you are and I think for posterity’s sake it is time to set the records straight. I will return to the issue of my long-suffering mother later in this letter. Like most Nigerians, I believe there are very enormous issues currently plaguing the country but I was surely surprised that you will be the one to publish such a treatise. I remember clearly as if it was yesterday the day I came over to Abuja from Abeokuta when I was Commissioner of Health in Ogun State, specifically to ask you not to continue to pursue the third term issue. I had tried to bring it up when your sycophantic aides were present and they brushed my comments aside and as usual you listened to their self-serving counsel. For you to accuse someone else of what you so obviously practiced yourself tells of your narcissistic megalomaniac personality. Everyone around for even a few minutes knows that the only thing you respond to is praise and worship of you. People have learnt how to manipulate you by giving you what you crave. The only ones that can’t and will not stroke your ego are family members who you universally treat like shit apart from the few who have learned to manipulate you like others. Before I continue, Nigerians are people who see conspiracy and self-service in everything because I think they believe everyone is like them. This letter is not in support of President Jonathan or APC or any other group or person, but an outpouring from my soul to God. I don’t blame you for the many atrocities you have been able to get away with, Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way. People ultimately get leaders that reflect them. Getting back to the story, I made sure your aides were not around and brought up the issue, trying to deliver the presentation of the issue as I had practiced it in my head. I started with the fact that we copied the US constitution which has term limits of two terms for a President. As is your usual manner, you didn’t allow me to finish my thought process and listen to my point of view. Once I broached the subject you sat up and said that the US had no term limits in the past but that it had been introduced in the 1940s after the death of President Roosevelt, which is true. I wanted to say to you: when you copy something you also copy the modifications based on the learning from the original; only a fool starts from scratch and does not base his decisions on the learning of others. In science, we use the modifications found by others long ago to the most recent, as the basis of new findings; not going back to discover and learn what others have learnt. Human knowledge and development and civilization will not have progressed if each new generation and society did not build on the knowledge of others before them. The American constitution itself is based on several theories and philosophies of governance available in the 18th century. Democracy itself is a governance method started by the ancient Greeks. America’s founding fathers used it with modifications based on what hadn’t worked well for the ancient Greeks and on new theories since then. As usual in our conversations, I kept quiet because I know you well. You weren’t going to change your mind based on my intervention as you had already made up your mind on the persuasion of the minions working for you who were ripping the country blind. When I spoke to you, your outward attitude to the people of the country was that you were not interested in the third term and that it was others pushing it. Your statement to me that day proved to me that you were the brain behind the third term debacle. It is therefore outrageous that you accuse the current President of a similar two-facedness that you yourself used against the people of the country. I was on a plane trip between Abuja and Lagos around the time of the third term issue and I sat next to one of your sycophants on the plane. He told me: “Only Obasanjo can rule Nigeria”. I replied: “God has not created a country where only one person can rule. If only one person can rule Nigeria then the whole Nigeria project is not a viable one, as it will be a non-sustainable project”. I don’t know how you came about Yar’Adua as the candidate for your party as it was not my priority or job. Unlike you, I focus on the issues I have been given responsibility over and not on the jobs of others. It was the day of the PDP Presidential Campaign in Abeokuta during the state-by-state tour of 2007 that Yar’Adua got sick and had to be flown abroad. The MKO Abiola Stadium was already filled with people by 9am when I drove by (and) we had told people based on the campaign schedule that the rally would start at noon. At 11 am I headed for the stadium on foot; it was a short walk as there were so many cars already parked in and out. As I walked on with two other people, we saw crowds of people leaving the stadium. I recognized some of them as politicians and I asked them why people were leaving. They said the Presidential candidate had died. I was alarmed and shocked. I walked back home and received a call from a friend in Lagos who said the same and added that he had died in the plane carrying him abroad for treatment and that the plane was on its way to Katsina to bury him. I called you, and told you the information and that the stadium was already half-empty. You told me to go to the stadium and tell the people on the podium to announce that the Presidential candidate had taken ill that morning but the rest of the team, including you and the Vice-Presidential candidate would arrive shortly. I did as I was told, but even the people on the podium at first didn’t make the announcement because they thought it was true that Yar’Adua had died. I had to take the microphone and make the announcement myself. It did little good. People kept trooping out of the stadium. Your team didn’t arrive until 4pm and by this time we had just a sprinkling of people left. That evening after the disaster of a rally, you said you had insisted that the Presidential candidate fly to Germany for a check-up although you said he only had a cold. I asked why would anyone fly to Germany to treat a cold? And you said “I would rather die than have the man die at this time”. I thought of this profound statement as things later unfolded against me. Then I thought it a stupid statement but as usual I kept quiet, little did I know how your machinations for a person would be used against me. When Yar’Adua eventually died, you stayed alive, I would have expected you to jump into his grave. I left Nigeria in 1989 right after youth service to study in the US and I visited in 1994 for a week and didn’t visit again until your inauguration in 1999. In between, you had been arrested by Abacha and jailed. We, your children, had no one who stood with us. Stella famously went around collecting money on your behalf but we had no one. We survived. I was the only one of the children working then as a post-doctoral fellow when I got the call from a friend informing me of your arrest. A week before your arrest, you had called me from Denmark and I had told you that you should be careful that the government was very offended by some of your statements and actions and may be planning to arrest or kill you as was occurring to many at the time. The source of my information was my mother who, agitated, had called me, saying I should warn you as this was the rumour in the country. As usual you brushed aside my comments, shouting on the phone that they cannot try anything and you will do and say as you please. The consequence of your bravado is history. We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct cruelty and also suffered the consequences of your stupidity but got none of the benefits of your successes. Of course, anyone around you knows how little respect you have for your children. You think our existence on earth is about you. By the way, how many are we? 19, 20, 21? Do you even know? In the last five years, how many of these children have you spoken to? How many grandchildren do you have and when did you last see each of them? As President you would listen to advice of people that never finished high school who would say anything to keep having access to you so as to make money over your children who loved you and genuinely wished you well. At your first inauguration in 1999, I and my brothers and sisters told you we were coming from the US. As is usual with you, you made no arrangements for our trip, instead our mom organized to meet each of us and provided accommodation. At the actual swearing-in at Eagle Square, the others decided to watch it on TV. Instead I went to the square and I was pushed and tossed by the crowd. I managed to get in front of the crowd where I waved and shouted at you as you and General Abdulsalam Abubakar walked past to go back to the VIP seating area. I saw you mouth ‘my daughter’ to General Abdullahi who was the one who pulled me out of the crowd and gave me a seat. As I looked around I saw Stella and Stella’s family prominently seated but none of your children. I am sure General Abdullahi would remember this incident and I am eternally grateful to him. Getting back to my mother, I still remember your beating her up continually when we were kids. What kids can forget that kind of violence against their mother? Your maltreatment of women is legendary. Many of your women have come out to denounce you in public but since your madness is also part of the madness of the society, it is the women that are usually ignored and mistreated. Of course, you are the great pretender, making people believe you have a good family life and a good relationship with your children but once in a while your pretence gets cracked. When Gbenga gave a ride to help someone he didn’t know but saw was in need and the person betrayed his trust by taping his candid response on the issues going on between you and your then vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, you had your aides go on air and denounce the boy before you even spoke to him to find out what happened. What kind of father does that? Your atrocities to some of my other siblings I will let them tell in their own due time or never if they choose. Some of the details of our life are public but the people choose to ignore it and pretended we enjoyed some largesse when you were President. This punishing the innocent is part of Nigeria’s continuing sins against God. While you were military head of state and lived in Dodan Barracks, we stayed either with our mum in the twobedroom apartment provided for her by General Murtala Mohammed or with your relatives, Bose, Yemisi and your sisters’ kids in the Boys Quarters of Dodan Barracks. At Queens College, I remember being too ashamed to tell my wealthy classmates from Queen’s College, Lagos we lived in the two room Boys Quarters or in the two room flat on Lawrence Street. No, we did not have privileged upbringing but our mother emphasized education and that has been our salvation. Of my mother’s 6 children 4 have PhDs. Of the two without PhD, one has a Master’s and the other is an engineer. They are no slouches. Education provided a way to make our way in the world. You are one of those petty people who think the progress and success of another takes from you. You try to overshadow everyone around you, before you and after you. You are the prototypical “Mr. Know it all”. You’ve never said “I don’t know” on any topic, ever. Of course this means you surround yourself with idiots who will agree with you on anything and need you for financial gain and you need them for your insatiable ego. This your attitude is a reflection of the country. It is not certain which came first, your attitude seeping into the country’s psyche or the country accepting your irresponsible behavior for so long. Like you and your minions, it’s a symbiotic relationship. Nigeria has descended into a hellish reality where smart, capable people to “survive” and have their daily bread prostrate to imbeciles. Everybody trying to pull everybody else down with greed and selfishness — the only traits that gets you anywhere. Money must be had and money and power is king. Even the supposed down-trodden agree with this. Nigeria accused me of fraud with the Ministry of Health. As you yourself know, both in Abeokuta and Abuja I lived in your houses as a Senator. In Lagos, I stayed in my mum’s bungalow which she succeeded in getting from you when you abandoned her with six children to live in Abeokuta with Stella. I borrowed against my four-year Senate salary to build the only house I have anywhere in the world in Lagos. I rent out the house for income. I don’t have much in terms of money but I am extremely happy. I tried to contribute my part to the development of my country but the country decided it didn’t need me. Like many educated Nigerians my age, there are countries that actually value people doing their best to contribute to society and as many of them have scattered all over the world so have many of your children. I can speak for myself and many of them; what they are running away from is that they can’t even contribute effectively at the same time as they have to deal with constant threats to their lives by miscreants the society failed to educate; deal with lack of electricity and air pollution resulting from each household generating its own electricity, and the lack of quality healthcare or education and a total lack of sense of responsibility of almost every person you meet. Your contribution to this scenario cannot be overestimated. You and your cronies mentioned in your letter have left the country worse than you met it at your births in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Nigeria is not the creation of any of you, and although you feel you own it and are “Mr Nigeria” deciding whether the country stays together or not, and who rules it; you don’t. Nigeria is solely the creation of the British. My dear gone Grandmother whose burial you told people not to attend, was not born a Nigerian but a proud Ijebu-Yoruba woman. Togetherness is a choice and it must serve a purpose. As for Nigerians thinking I have their money, when it was obvious I was part of the Yar’Adua (government’s) anti-Obasanjo phenomenon that was going on at the time. The Ministry of Health and international NGOs paid for a retreat for the Senate Committee on Health. The House Committee on Health was treated exactly the same way. The monies were given to members as estacode and the rest used for accommodation, flights and feeding. While the Senate was on the retreat in Ghana, the EFCC asked the House Committee to return the monies they received for their retreat and asked us in the Senate to return ours on our return which I refused, as it was already used for the purpose it was earmarked for in the budget that year which was to work on the National Health Bill. The House Committee had not gone on their retreat. I did nothing wrong and my colleagues and I on the retreat did our work conscientiously. I asked the EFCC not to drag my colleagues into it and I am proud I suffered alone. As is usual in a society where people who are not progressive but take pleasure in the pain of others, most Nigerians were happy, not looking at the facts of the matter, just the suffering of an Obasanjo. As the people that stole their millions are hailed by them the innocent is punished. When the court case was thrown out because it lacked merit even against the Minister, no newspaper carried the news. The wrongful malicious prosecution of an Obasanjo was not something they wanted to report; just her downfall. But it really wasn’t about me, it was about right and wrong in society and every society gets the fruit of the seeds it sows. How do you think God will provide good leaders to such a people? God helps those who help themselves. I have realized that as an Obasanjo I am not entitled to work in Nigeria in any capacity. I am not entitled to work in health which is my training, or in any field or anywhere in the country or participate in any business. I have learnt this lesson well and there are societies that actually think capable, well-educated people are important to their society’s progress. Apparently, unless I am eating from the dustbin, Nigerians and possibly you will not be satisfied. I thank God it has not come to that based on God-given brains and brawn. When I left Nigeria in 1989 for graduate studies in America, you promised to pay my school fees and no living expenses. This you did and I am grateful for because, working in the kitchen and then the library at University of California, Davis and later, working on the IT desk and later as a Teaching Assistant at Cornell gave me valuable work ethics for life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. As a black woman in the early 21st century, I have achieved much and done more than most. My wish is that black girls all over the world will have the capacity to create their lives, make mistakes, learn from it and move ahead. Moving back to Nigeria, thinking I wanted to serve was obviously a grave mistake but one brought about by the tragic incident of April 20, 2003. This was the day five people were shot dead in my car. The mother of the children was an acquaintance I had met only one day before the incident. We had attended the same high school and university but she was there ten years earlier than I. She had also studied public health in the UK as I had in the US. It was these coincidences that made us connect on our first meeting and then she decided to visit on the Saturday of the election of 2003 when the incident occurred. I am scarred for life by that incident and I know the mother was too as we both looked back to see two men on each side of my car shooting. I understand her trauma and her behaviour since then can be judged from that. Nigeria is a nasty place that pushes people to lose their compass. I participated in the campaigns leading to the elections that day, more because this was my first experience of electoral process in Nigeria. Growing up there were no elections and I was too young in the 1979 and 1983 elections. It was interesting to see democracy at work. When Gbenga Daniel who I campaigned for offered me a job, I probably would have declined it, if not for the memory of the dead. I felt I had to engage in making the country progress and to avoid such incidences in the future. I don’t need to tell you or anyone what kind of governor and person Gbenga Daniel is. As usual when I found out, you would not listen to my opinion but found out for yourself. I also campaigned for Amosun for the Senate in 2003. I have had some wonderful Nigerians do good to me, I will never forget the then Minister of Women Affairs, who saw me talking in the crowd at a campaign event and was alarmed and said “bad things can happen to you out there, I will give you one of the orderlies assigned to my office to follow you”. This was the police man that died in my car that day. I never really thought bad things would happen to me, I moved around freely in society until that shooting scarred me and I accepted a police detail. I was constantly scared for my life after that. You called me after your vengeful letter as usual, looking out for yourself and thinking you will bribe me by saying the APC will use me for the Senate. Do you really know me and what I want out of life? Anyone that knows me knows I am done with anything political or otherwise in Nigeria. I have so much to do and think to make this world a better place than to waste it on fighting with idiots over a political post that does no good to society. That letter you wrote to the President, would you have tolerated such a letter as a sitting President? Don’t do to others what you will not allow to be done to you. The only thing I was using that was yours was the house in Abuja where I left my things when I left the country. I eventually rented it out so that the place would not fall apart but as usual you want to take that as well. You can’t have it without explaining to Nigerians how you came about the house? As I said earlier, this is not about politics but my frustration with you as a father and a human being. I am not involved with what is currently going on in Nigeria, I don’t talk to any Nigerian other than friends on social basis. I am not involved with any political groups or affiliation. You mentioned Governor Osoba when you spoke to me, yes I was walking down the street of Cambridge, Massachussets a few months ago, when I looked up and saw him reading a map trying to cross the street. I greeted him warmly and offered to give him a ride to where he was going. This I did not do because I wanted anything from him politically but because that is how I was raised by my mother to treat an adult who I really had no ill-will towards. Some said he was part of the people that manipulated the elections for me to lose in 2011. I don’t have any ill-will to him for that because I think they did me a favour and someone has to win and lose. I had told you I wasn’t going to run in 2011 but you manipulated me to run; that was my mistake. Losing was a blessing. As usual you wanted me to run for your self-serving purpose to perpetuate your name in the political realm and as the liar that you are, you later denied that it was you who wanted me to run in 2011. In 2003 I ran because I wanted to and I thought getting to the central government I will be able to contribute more to improving lives and working on legislation that impacts the country. I found that nothing gets done; every public official in Nigeria is working for himself and no one really is serving the public or the country. The whole system, including the public themselves want oppressors, not people working for their collective progress. When no one is planning the future of a country, such a country can have no future. I won’t be your legacy, let your legacy be Nigeria in the fractured state you created because, it was always your way or the highway. This is the end of my communication with you for life. I pray Nigeria survives your continual intervention in its affairs.
The bitter truth about the Igbo – Femi Fani-Kayode’s fallacious Igbo takedown
According to Femi Fani-Kayode, the Igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi in collusion with an Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership took over power. Then he continued, “The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for three hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives.”
In a desperate bid to resuscitate his shattered political values, unwaged political bigot at the time – 2013, Femi Fani-Kayode, concocted the most trivial written composition against the Igbos
Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the Igbo and the Yoruba. It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were Yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a Yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an Igbo, an Ijaw, an Efik or a Hausa-Fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not, some of those that are not of Yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the Yoruba race.
In the last 80 years, the Igbo have been shown more generosity, accommodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the Yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The Yoruba do not have any resentment for the Igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs.
Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all. Lagos and the South-west are the land and the patrimony of the Yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of ”being nice”, ”patriotism”, ”one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the Yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privileges that the indigenous people in non-Yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the North, the Middle Belt and the South-east, we may reconsider our position. But up until then, we shall not do so. Lagos is not a ”no-man’s land” but the land and heritage of the Yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs.
Teaser-excerpts of FFK’s inflammatory tommyrots
Igbos were first to introduce tribalism into Southern politics in Nigeria
The Igbo have been shown more by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria
It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days.
Igbo has continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce.
Unlike them, we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since.
1966 Coup was clearly an Igbo coup
The Igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi in collusion with an Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership took over power.
The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for three hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives
I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows. The Yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accommodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is why some of our Igbo brothers can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola ”deported” 19 Igbo destitute back to Anambra state a while ago. In the last 80 years, the Igbo have been shown more generosity, accommodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the Yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The Yoruba do not have any resentment for the Igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of. As I said elsewhere recently, to be accommodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why many of our people take strong exception to the apparent outrage of the Igbo over this ”deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a ”no man’s land” is because the Igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence.
IGBOS were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the Igbo is only a matter of time”.
We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverent and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in ”one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the alter of that ”one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. ”One Nigeria” yes but no one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the Igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50’s and early and mid-60’s that got them into so much trouble up there with the Hausa-Fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days. Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late ’30’s and the early and mid-40’s that alienated the Yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the Igbo is only a matter of time”.
It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the Igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50’s and early and mid-60’s that got them into so much trouble up there with the Hausa-Fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days.
That single comment, made in that explosive and historic speech, did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on. To make matters worse, in July 1948, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the ”god of the Igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the Yoruba by the name of Herbert Macauley. Macauley, like most of the Yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an Igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the Yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an Igbo man, would he have handed the whole thing over to a Yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much.
Yet instead of being grateful the Igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them, we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since.
Again when northern military officers mutinied, effected their ”revenge coup” and went to kill the Igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the Yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-Ironsi. How many Igbo know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the Yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other Igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other Yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much. Yet instead of being grateful the Igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them, we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first Yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first Igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first Yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first Igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935.
Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of ”we must control all”, ”we must own all” and ”we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu’s of this world about the Igbo supposedly ”owning Lagos” with the Yoruba and supposedly ”generating 55 per cent of the state’s revenue”. It is most insulting.
And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perennial suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the Yoruba because that is far from the truth. We are not the problem, they are. Pray tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the Igbo better than the Yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their ”abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the West and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country- only the Yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the ”south-south’ today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply. From the foregoing, any objective observer can tell that we the Yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accommodating others. This is particularly so when it comes to the Igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those ”others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are.
Now, let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more Igbo ”firsts’ that many may not be familiar with to buttress the point. The Igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. EzedIgbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leading politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own.
I should also mention that even though this was clearly an Igbo coup there was one Yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega. It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt . Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these revered and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out, the Igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Saurdana’s mutilated body with Nzeogwu’s boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as ”northern rule and Islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now ”rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there.
The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuana taking power in Lagos, the Igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the Igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young Igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun.
The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuana taking power in Lagos, the Igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the Igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young Igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun. Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deep-seated Igbo conspiracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous ”meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa’s cabinet . Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter.
Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 Igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar’adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 Igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifejuna and other junior Igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of Yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no Igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period.
The Igbo understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And perhaps that would have been the end of the story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter Yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a Yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, ‘the Black Scorpion’), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu.
The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for three hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceding from the federation, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them.
The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for three hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceding from the federation, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monumental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the Igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms. Yet it was only in Yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their ”abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations or suspicions whatsoever. Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the Igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme.
Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ”inflammatory” and have claimed that I am ”not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as ”not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the Igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the Yoruba very well.
We will not let anyone poison the minds of our Yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some Igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the Yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the Bini, the Itsekiri, the Urhobo, the Isoko, the Hausa-Fulani, the Tapas, the Nupes and the Ijaws than they do with the Igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the Igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth. We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The Igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so.
We the Yoruba have accommodated others in Lagos and throughout the South-west and we have let them live in peace for the last 100 years. As a matter of fact we have been glad to do so because as far as we are concerned that is one of the hallmarks of civilisation- the ability to accommodate other faiths, other cultures, other races and other nationalities and to create an equitable and just racial melting pot where equal opportunities are available to all. It is a great and noble virtue to be open and tolerant but that does not mean that we are fools and it does not mean that we do not know who we are, where we are coming from, what is ours and what our heritage is.
The Igbo are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.
The fact that we have allowed others to thrive and settle in our land and share it with us does not mean that we have stopped owning that land. The suggestion that Lagos is a ”no-man’s land’ and that the Igbo or any other nationality outside the Yoruba generate up to 55 per cent of it’s revenue or business is absolutely absurd and frankly it has no basis in reality or rationality. It is not only a dirty lie but it is also very insulting. Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and to the Yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The Igbo are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.
Special Women Dance Group of Otu-Umuokpu Anambra prepares a 2019 outing in Houston
The group’s founder “Nneora” Jenny Ogadi who would likely join the president to lead this Dance Group. Nneora represents the group’s Traditional Mother. She said that the major objective of this dance event is to showcase the Anambra culture through traditional music and dance.
International Guardian, Houston – TX: The Otu-Umuokpu Anambra, USA Association is ready to showcase its prestigious women dance, the group’s leader, Chief Lady, Dr. Queen Ozigbo said. Houston headquarters as it is referred to, Otu-Umuokpu Anambra USA prides prominent women of Anambra natives. Their mission has inspired not only the protection of the Igbo traditional values and cultures, but also a series of charitable projects back home in Nigeria.
According to Chief Dr. Ozigbo, OtuUmuokpu Women Dance will showcase the very popular traditional songs and dance styles in Anambra. “You know that we represents a very significant segment of the Igbo Society in Anambra State, and Houston being a city where Igbos are well populated, this event means a lot to both our indigenes and the city,” Chief Dr. Ozigbo said.
The group’s founder “Nneora” Jenny Ogadi would likely join the president to lead this Dance Group. Nneora represents the group’s Traditional Mother. She said that the major objective of this dance event is to showcase the Anambra culture through traditional music and dance. “Houston as we all know is a well diverse environment and it is our mission to share our rich culture with this population,” Nneora said.
Group’s President, Chief Lady, Dr. Queen Ozigbo (forefront) … “We are not a social club, or a political entity. We are a family; a communion of sisterhood bonded in fatherhood to promote our culture and perfect our community, families, and individual social and economic prospects. Therefore we are inviting every Houstonian to be a part of this great tradition.”
Otu- Umuokpu Anambra, USA Association is a community of all
paternal daughters of Anambra State of Nigeria with the core mission to promote
and uphold the welfare and culture her members; and foster unity, love, and
harmony among them. The group has since its inception shared the uniformity of
their ancestry as a unifying tool for community development and bonding of sisterhood.
Date, venue and other details of this event will be announced.
Chief Dr. Ozigbo said the event would be free to all guests. “We are not a
social club, or a political entity. We are a family; a communion of sisterhood
bonded in fatherhood to promote our culture and perfect our community,
families, and individual social and economic prospects. Therefore we are inviting
every Houstonian to be a part of this great tradition,” she said.
For more information about Otu-Umuokpu Anambra, USA Association, Inc., please call 281-222-8084; or 832-640-6329; Or visit their website – click ► ►
WATCH: 2019 Charity Project by Otu-Umuokpu Anambra, USA Association, Inc. A Documentary by Anambra Broadcasting Service, Anambra State – Click ► ►
Chicago Mayor Permanently Bans ICE From Accessing Police Databases Ahead Of Raids
Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed to protect Chicago’s immigrant enclaves by halting any police cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Chicago police “will not team up with ICE to detain any resident,” the mayor said after meeting with business leaders and immigration rights advocates at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “They’re not going to be facilitating or otherwise providing any assistance in any raids ― whether it’s traffic stops [or] additional support. … We have also cut off ICE from any access from any CPD databases and that will remain permanent.”
On June 22, President Donald Trump announced that he would delay his plans for mass deportation roundups in at least 10 major cities, including Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago. He tweeted that he hoped the two-week delay would allow Democrats to “work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border.”
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But The New York Times reported early Thursday that ICE officials plan to launch nationwide raids as soon as this weekend to arrest thousands of immigrants the federal government has ordered deported.
“The two-weeks clock is up, which is what the president had given,” Lightfoot said Wednesday. “We’ve heard some notion that it may start again.”
ICE…. On June 22, President Donald Trump announced that he would delay his plans for mass deportation roundups in at least 10 major cities, including Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Before Trump’s first planned raid in June, Lightfoot said the Chicago Police Department would not cooperate with ICE, though Wednesday was the first time she said the city would permanently ban ICE from accessing police databases.
“Chicago is and will always be a welcoming city that will never tolerate ICE tearing our families apart,” she said. “I don’t want our immigrant residents to be fearful of being in Chicago. I don’t want people not going to work, pursuing their daily activities or their children being fearful that their parents or guardians are gonna be taken from them.”
Many immigrant rights groups in Chicago, which has long been considered a “sanctuary city,” have said the mayor is not doing enough to prevent the raids and are calling on her to issue an executive order that denies access to Chicago databases to any agency under the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Organizers reportedly said the order they’re proposing wouldn’t include anything that Lightfoot hasn’t already said she’s doing, but it would set things in stone.
“We have seen flip-flopping where [Lightfoot] says one thing to one audience and then she says something different to the community groups,” Rey Wences, of Organized Communities Against Deportation, told the Sun-Times, though he didn’t cite a specific example. “We are feeling conflicted but not surprised.”
Lightfoot ran her mayoral campaign on a promise to strengthen Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance by removing loopholes. Under the city’s sanctuary ordinance, Chicago police are allowed to cooperate with ICE if the targeted people are in the city’s gang database, have pending felony prosecutions or prior felony convictions, or have an outstanding criminal warrant.
Immigration rights activists, Hispanic city council members, and the American Civil Liberties Union have all called for those exemptions to be removed. Lightfoot’s ban on police-ICE cooperation also includes use of the city’s gang databases, which are notoriously inaccurate.
To prepare for the raids, civil rights groups nationwide are encouraging immigrants to read up on their legal rights, which Lightfoot also encouraged on Wednesday. The ACLU says undocumented immigrants are not legally required to grant ICE agents access to their homes without a specific kind of warrant. If arrested, everyone is entitled to remain silent and to access a government-appointed attorney.
