A RIGHTEOUS SENATE AND BUHARI'S SINFUL APPOINTMENTS

The winners in the Buhari/Saraki showdown thus far are the regular nigerians.We,the everyday people with nothing vested in it other than the best interests of our country.While the Senate President is one of the star victims of Buhari's 'selective' anti-corruption war, he has when possible, used the machinery of the upper chamber to claw back at the President.Buhari is illustrating just how mean the resolve to fight corruption is with a recalcitrant Senate president whom many feel he has an axe to grind with while Saraki and his cohorts on the other hand have paid extra attention to their watchdog role in a bid to catch the President napping.It was with great joy that we; the winners watched the Senate refuse to screen and confirm the 47 man ambassadorial list sent to it by the Presidency till it featured nominees from every state of the Federation.Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ondo and Plateau were unrepresented and it appeared unjust to have a 47 man list without having at least one from each of the 36 states plus the FCT.
To the Presidency, the refusal was an embarrassing slap on the face.To the Senate, a chance to score a 'righteous' point while getting back at the President and for the common Nigerian, a laudable attempt at addressing our current fears.It was more or less a wake up call to an insensitive President that has refused to change the motific nature of his appointments even in light of grave secessionist threats in some regions of the country.
The IPOB and Niger Delta Avengers who were fighting for separate nations are said to be now working hand in hand if reports emanating from the biafrans' camp are anything to go by.
The only ibo non-ministerial appointment by the President came more than one year into his administration and it was even more by default than choice as she only stepped into the shoes of the recently retired Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura in an acting capacity being next in the chain of command.Buhari has made two recent high profile appointments in just a matter of days and they are all northerners- the acting IG of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the new boss of the Federal Inland Waterways, Alhaji BossGida Mustapha.Nothing has changed.The President still favours his northern brothers way more than others.He has stuck to his bias for them quite regrettably, even when he claims to be in discussions with the separatists on how to drop their arms and stay a part of us.That is seeking peace and fanning the embers of war all at the same time.Quite a number of people including yours truly had spoken countless times on the divisive tendencies of his appointments even before the  various campaigns to secede took a rather wild turn, so unfortunately it is more or less an 'I told you so' situation for a lot of us.
You get a feeling the 'irregularities' in the ambassadorial nominee list were ones the Senate would have overlooked if the President had been more considerate in his appointments because it would be suicide in the court of public opinion.But rather it afforded Saraki and his friends a perfect opportunity to throw a punch we applaud them for without appearing petty or messy.
It was quite shrewd of the senate to key into the piling frustration of the average patriotic Nigerian.One who has had to sit and watch our President continue his 'northern party' with no means of checking him.One who has had to sit and wonder if the President is on a deliberate mission to disunite us as a people by so blatantly promoting the interests of some above others.It is trite that when the governed are discontent, it becomes twice as difficult to please them.A lot of the President's decisions are under a lot more scrutiny than they ordinarily should be and that won't augur well for his administration.What would ordinarily pass as a harmless omission has had people looking hard to find his trademark on them.
Judging by antecedents, no one can conveniently wave off the fact that Bayelsa, Ondo and Ebonyi are PDP states while Plateau is a north central state that doesn't particularly qualify as north in the 'core' scheme of things.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation has been summoned alongside the Foreign Affairs minister to show cause on July 9th.It remains to be seen if they have a better defence than one put up by the SGF so far.He made a rather lame attempt to make us believe the states had no single person qualified to be an ambassador.I found some of the answers he gave at an interactive session with journalists rather confusing.
After telling us not all states are represented in the foreign service department of the ministry of foreign affairs, he goes on to say the government will have to source nominees from outside the ministry to provide opportunities for states not on the list.If that was possible like we already knew, why didn't the government tow that path in the first place for the sake of justice and fairness and also in light of the current need to keep everyone happy?.
When the SGF said questions as to the propriety of the list could have been clarified by just a mere phone call, it told perhaps just how inconsequential the Presidency deems issues as sensitive as appointments in times like this when the territorial integrity of our great nation couldn't be more at risk.A time when separationists are trying to align forces and are steadily bombing towards their goal of crippling oil production to zero level till their demands are met.
The Senate may be in a war with the Presidency but it has spoken for me and a lot of people by rejecting the ambassadorial list on the ground of lacking federal character.
By any means necessary, President Buhari must be made to understand that Nigeria belongs to everybody and that it belongs to nobody.The need to thread with caution can not be over-emphasized.
On a day the Nigerian Senate chose to wear its saints' garb, it did a most righteous deed.

NIGER DELTA AVENGERS: PEACE IS CHEAPER THAN WAR

History will forever remember  late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua's handling of the Niger Delta Militancy when he was President.He vigorously pursued peace by dangling the amnesty programme and establishment of the Niger Delta ministry.Government 'Tompolo' controlled one of the most vicious groups then and he was the very last to drop arms and meet the President.I admired Yar'adua for meeting him personally and smiling through it all for the Cameras.Tompolo on the other hand, appeared shy and some what overcome.It was obvious a lot had been put into getting the much dreaded 'Government' to sit on that table in the mood he was in and President Yar'adua deserved very much to reap the reward of his hard work.That was crisis management at its finest.
The Niger Delta avengers is at the fore front of a recent bid to establish a Sovereign nation of the Niger Delta and it has promised to cripple Nigeria's oil producing capacity to zero level till it wards off all resistance.The group has been on a crazy spree over the last few days, bombing two Chevron oil wells-RMP 23 and RMP 24 because the company embarked on repairs of installations it had bombed earlier and then a Shell oil facility on June 3rd to round up an unprecedented attack of key oil installations in a matter of days that had affected almost everyone from NNPC to Agip.
I seriously doubt if President Buhari can handle this crisis in the manner President Yar'adua did then judging from how he has gone about things.The attack on Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta state by the Nigerian military was irrational to say the least.The only thing it succeeded in doing was raising human rights questions in the international community and if one also considers the army's massacre of innocent shi'ite members in Zaria along with the destruction of the sect's properties and the continued detention without trial of its leader, I wouldn't be surprised if the US and its cronies refuse to sell us arms on grounds of human rights violations.Like they did the Jonathan government when he sought to buy some to fight boko haram, such refusal could just be when we need the weapons most.
There are reports of how innocent people were harrased, maimed and intimidated in Gbaramatu and it is hard to figure out what the Commander-in-Chief and his troops were hoping to achieve.
Even if it had succeeded in arresting some members of the militant group, there was always the possibility of that inciting the others to increase the spate of attacks so as not to appear defeated as is common with such elements.
Well, shortly after the army's visit, they bombed three key installations in quick succession to further buttress their readiness to see out their cause.
These happened after the deployment of about 100 gunboats and numerous warships to tackle the militants.That is a clear pointer to the fact that the government has adopted the wrong approach.Dialogue remains the government's best option in this.There must be a tactical and 'respectful' wooing of the militants to the discussion table.Whether or not we can defeat the Niger Delta avengers is not what is important, the paramount consideration should be the damage they are capable of causing before they are subdued (that is if they are subdued).The country's oil production has been cut down by more than 40,000 barrels per day and Delta state is already reporting a N2.6 billion loss in revenue due to the activities of vandals.Peace is cheaper than war and this war is quite expensive if you ask me.
The British high commissioner, Paul Ackright has lent his voice to the call for the government to tow the path of reason.There couldn't possibly be a better way of resolving this crisis.It would heal the wounds the pathetic handling by the Buhari administration has already caused.A lot of regrettable comments have been made by key members of his administration before the militants increased the heat and it is advisable to watch whose help he enlists because of the heightened sensitivity involved at this stage.
People like Brig.Gen Paul Boroh (Rtd) the Presidential Amnesty co-ordinator must be immediately removed from the fore front.The man claimed to have practically relocated to the creeks to help get the militants to the table and went on to convene a meeting with 50 militant leaders at the Transcorp Hilton without those of the Avengers (the real threat).He not only dashed a lot of expectations but wasted precious time and resources as well.Such power should no longer be afforded such a man as his exercise of it could be counter-productive and outright wasteful.We have heard how millions of dollars were reportedly squandered by the Jonathan administration all in the name of negotiations with Boko haram.It is best to have only those who can reach out directly to the targets and no one else.
Furthermore, Boroh came out to categorically state that the government will not dialogue with the Niger Delta avengers and that has automatically made him a bad choice of go-between as it would be highly unwise to entrust him with the duty of luring them to the table.The government must avoid getting unnecessarily confrontational this stage.
All hands must be on deck to ensure the Niger Delta avengers give up their cause without further damage being done.
If the government can't guarantee the security of our installations, then at least it must guarantee us that.