Jonathan/Okonjo-Iweala: An Unjust Vitriolic

By Orji Kalu, Sun News Online

I read two articles last week, which I found very unsettling, unnecessary and unwarranted. One was an attack on President Goodluck Jonathan for the recent detention and release of some members of the Movement for Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
The other was an acerbic attack on the Minister for Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose second coming is attracting undue flakes from some people. I must confess that both articles have, up till this moment, left me disconsolate. Author of one of the articles in question was pointblank and unequivocal in his condemnation of the manner the arrest was handled, and how the Federal Government gaffed by allowing the President openly and personally announced the release of the MASSOB members. According to them, the president should have directed the Inspector General of Police (who arrested and detained the men) to order their release.

In my thinking, there was nothing wrong with the president ordering their release, after all the appeals to have them released by prominent Igbo sons and daughters were made directly to him. If he had asked IGP Ringim to announce the release, then the publicity mileage accruing from that action would have gone to Ringim. In such a political game what determines which direction an action goes is what each player stands to gain. In this case the president stood to gain, and he ingenuously went for it.

Can anybody authoritatively say that the president ordered the arrest of the MASSOB men? I was pleased with the dissection done on the matter by a columnist in one of the national papers. The author in question though sympathetic to the cause of the MASSOB members outright condemned the arrest and burrowed into the possible consequences of what had happened. His position was that the arrest of the men, whom he described as innocuous and harmless, was an unnecessary overheating of the polity. I agree no less.

But I was particularly moved by the request made to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, by Justice Eze Ozobu to prevail on the president to get the men released, and the helplessness of the top Igbo who serves in the present cabinet in that circumstance. Justice Ozobu was so irked and dismayed by what happened that he literally took the president to task. He almost berated the president for not living up to the expectation of Igbo who voted massively for him during the last presidential election by not allowing the men to be arrested in the first place.

Even though Justice Ozobu might be justified in his assessment of the evolving situation, I am quick to point out that the president does not owe anybody any allegiance. His allegiance is strictly to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which he has sworn to defend. Did Jonathan sign any agreement with tribal group in the country that he would shield them from arrest if they broke the law or did anything antithetical to the sovereignty and unity of Nigeria? I believe that the president would not be naive to make such a wild commitment. He approached Igbo leaders who, in their own assessment, saw him as the best candidate that would meet the aspirations of Nigerians and therefore voted for him. That action never meant at any time material that the president would kowtow to such people.

Those who try to hold the president responsible for the arrest and detention of the MASSOB members are not being fair and reasonable. Whoever is familiar with the operations of government would agree that the president might not necessarily have to be contacted before somebody who breaks the law is arrested and detained. To me, the blames for the detention of the MASSOB members should be heaped on the doorsteps of the security agents that masterminded their arrest in the first place.

Dragging Jonathan into the whole imbroglio is an undue distraction. The president has too much already in his hands to be so distracted. He may have his own limitations as a person, but that is not enough to crucify him as is being done at the moment.
As much as I love Igbo and am ready to continue to fight for their cause, as I have always done, I will never support undue sentimentalism. Why blame Jonathan simply that Igbo voted for him? Were Igbo the only people that voted for Jonathan and may not be getting what is due to them as compensation for their faithfulness and support? Hausa, Yoruba and other ethnic groups collectively made Jonathan president. He is not the president of one ethnic group, not even the Ijaw – his sanguineous brothers and sisters.

My defense of Jonathan does not mean that the president should not do something reasonable for those that supported him at the elections. He can achieve this by integrating their interests in the overall national development plan without necessarily being loud about it. It is natural for a person to show soft spot for somebody that has shown him friendship and kindness. That is where such a relationship should end - at an official level.

This does not mean that the President should not make deliberate effort to redress the injustices done to the Igbo since the civil war ended. It is no longer news that Igbo have remained an endangered species in the Nigerian nation. I know what the fears of the security agencies are that made them arrest the MASSOB men. They had thought that by stopping them from holding their ceremony planned for the recognition of some of their leaders, especially Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, they would intimidate them into dropping any plot to replicate what Boko Haram is doing in the North. But sincerely speaking, they got it wrong. Igbo, as I have always said, are very peaceful, republican and enterprising. They do not just embark on a struggle without adequate reason. They do not believe that their rightful place in the scheme of things in Nigeria will be achieved by violence. As well-educated, resourceful and humane people Igbo are ready to continue to work for the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria, even at their own discomfort. Probably, this is what some people interpret as weakness. For all I know, Igbo are not a weak race. They supported Jonathan not because he is an Igbo man (anybody who alludes to that is just being mischievous). Rather they gave him support because they thought he had all the qualities of the kind of president Nigeria needed at this time. By the way, is there anything wrong for Igbo to choose to support Jonathan for whatever reason best known to them?

I know a time will come when Igbo will assume the presidency of this country without raising a sword. They do not need any rebellion or guerrilla warfare, as some militant groups wage currently, to get the presidency or register their indignation over the way the country is run.

I do not subscribe to the arguments making the rounds in the media that Igbo had blown their chances of clinching the presidency in 2015 because they supported President Jonathan in 2011. Those who make these lame arguments have forgotten that it is only God that makes kings. The emergence of Jonathan as president was purely a mandate actuated by God using man as an instrument. How could Jonathan ordinarily have become president from being an ordinary deputy governor in 1999? There are some people who have spent virtually all their active years on earth seeking the presidency without even making it to the vice presidency position. If it pleases God that Igbo will produce the president in 2015, no man born of a woman can obstruct it.
Sincerely speaking, Jonathan owes Igbo a debt of gratitude for their steadfast support to his administration, even when the situation was hazy. They returned over 97% votes for him in the elections. How he does it is entirely his business.

As indicated in the beginning of this article, the second coming of Okonjo-Iweala as Finance Minister is being criticized for no justifiable reason. Those in the vanguard of this undue media attack claim she is overrated. How realistic is their criticism? How can any rational person claim Okonjo-Iweala – a World Bank Managing Director -is overrated? This is what I mean whenever I write that Nigerians are the architect of their own problems. Instead of commending her courage to accept the ministerial offer to come and salvage the nation’s economy her critics have found pastime in chastising her.

Ordinarily, I would have used my precious time for more useful engagements instead of responding to the chattering of some charlatans. That would have amounted to great disservice to the nation that is currently yearning for honest men and women that would help it regain its lost glory. Have these armchair critics asked themselves why Olusegun Obasanjo – against all odds – sought the services of Okonjo-Iweala as his Finance Minister. Obasanjo was richly convinced that he needed an Okonjo-Iweala if he was to bring out the economy from the doldrums. For true assessors of the performance of that administration she did not fail to deliver. We all were witnesses to the shock the economy experienced when she was moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as minister. The thinking of Obasanjo was that the reassignment of Okonjo-Iweala to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would help redeem the sagging foreign image of Nigeria.

In any case, the performance of Okonjo-Iweala in the Obasanjo administration was generally perceived as excellent, which was why Jonathan went for her this time round. For those who did not know: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is one of the best brains in the World Bank and the management of the bank had publicly acknowledged this on numerous occasions. In fact, it took her extra two months after she was confirmed by the Senate to assume duties. This was because her employers in Washington needed her to tie up a few loose ends before resuming in Abuja. Would anybody say such a woman is not an egghead?

I believe that her appointment will attract visible changes in the way the economy has been run in the past one year and in the end yield sound policies that will translate into gains for the transformation of the lives of the citizens.

What Nigeria needs at this time is sound fiscal policy predicated on pragmatic economic principles. We do not need parlous economic formula that have exacerbated the woes of the nation. With the resumption of Okonjo-Iweala comes quick response from other indices that measure the performance of the economy. This means that within a short time the economy will be on its way to full recovery.
Let me make it very clear: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s offer to serve is coming at a very huge price. Apart from the big pay packet she is leaving behind at the World Bank (this is estimated at $543,000 per annum) she is going to spend sleepless nights working out modalities on how to revitalize the economy. What is the salary of a minister in Nigeria in accordance with the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMFC) structure? I know it is not up to N5m annually. If that is true, then multiply $543,000 by the current exchange rate of the naira in the international market and you see what I mean. This amount does not include her allowances and other emoluments as a Managing Director in a top financial institution.

I advise her critics to come up with their own answers to the many problems besetting the economy instead of relishing in their devious recreation of trying to damage the reputation of an innocent woman whose only sin is that she accepted the call by her fatherland to help rebuild the battered economy.
As for those criticizing Jonathan for the detention and subsequent release of MASSOB members, let them apply restraint. They should show some patriotism in their attitude to national issues. At this time of our national development, what we need is concerted effort by all Nigerians to find solutions to the endemic problems of terrorism, corruption, poverty, insecurity and greed seeking to destroy the fabric of our dear nation.
For now, let there be ceasefire.

Nigeria's Terrorism Against MASSOB: An Affront To The United Nations

By Ikechukwu Eyiagu, Modern Ghana

It's unfair, and the UN knows this well enough. It's gross injustice yet the UN remains silent. The many atrocious and terror acts carried out against MASSOB and its leadership by the Nigerian government is not only highly condemnable, it's a direct affront to the United Nations and everything it stands for. The constant harassing, killing, torturing and detaining of many MASSOB members in the South-East of Nigeria by Nigerian security operatives should and must be condemned in its totality by the UN's body, the United States of America, Britain and other world powers. When an individual or a group attacks a people for no justifiable reasons, it's quickly called terrorism by the international community, but when a state marginalizes, deprives, tortures, kills, arrests and detains peace loving and innocent citizens because they are asking for their rights through due process, what is it called-modern slavery, perhaps? No! It's terrorism; terrorism in the highest order! It's worse that slavery!

In 1960, Nigeria joined the United Nations and consequently became a signatory to the Geneva convention treaty. As a result of this membership, Nigerian government is required by global law of rights and governance to , wholly, abide by all UN accords in relation to how its government is run-whether towards foreigners or its citizens. After the 1967-70 Nigerian-masterminded genocide against Ndigbo, and till date, the very reasons against which the declaration of the Sovereign State of Biafra were made still show themselves; only this time, in a much higher scale. It's only a man without common sense who sits down and allows others to strangle his children one after another right before his eyes without as much as saying a word. Nigeria prides itself in the systematic extinction of the Igbo race within Nigeria, but Ndigbo would not sit down and watch silently why the very reasons we started our journey towards a separate nationhood repeat themselves; should we? By all mean, no!

In line with these United Nations Human Rights declarations, and especially in the general silence of the UN body towards the brutalization, killing and unlawful arrests and detention of MASSOB members by the Nigerian government, I would like to ask from these few articles:

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Question: Many Igbo people in the military answer Hausa and Yoruba names simply because the Nigerian government has a standing order against everything Igbo in Nigeria. How has this law been to the interest of Ndigbo in Nigeria as it has been for other tribes and ethnic groups?

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Question: Since the Nigeria civil war ended and MASSOB came up to continue the fight for a Sovereign State Of Biafra through a non-violent means, they have been brutalized, killed, arrested and detained in their numbers without any reasonable proof of any sort; is this not an affront to this article of the UN declaration? If this declaration covers every person and state in the world, why has the UN remained unconcerned while the Nigerian government continuously disregard these rules? Since no distinction shall be made of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty, why has the UN thought it unimportant to openly defend the rights of MASSOB but allowed the Nigerian security personnel to carry out, in defiance to this declaration, criminal acts against innocent people?

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Question: When the Nigerian government negotiates with and doles out money to Niger-Delta militants, releases without charge and seeks to negotiate with those who murder Ndigbo and other Nigerians all over the North, is it not considered a form of slavery when the same government jumps at will on Ndigbo here and there, throwing them into prisons without charge, and killing some of them even when they are clearly non-violent in their rightful pursuit and determination for a a state where they will be treated as fellow humans?

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Question: Is the unwarranted arrests, torture, detention and killing of MASSOB members by the Nigerian government thugs not an enough subjection to torture to bring the UN in?

Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Question: When the Nigerian government negotiates with and doles out money to Niger-Delta militants, releases without charge and seeks to negotiate with those who murder Ndigbo and other Nigerians all over the North, is it not seen as a great form of discrimination when the same government, on the other hand, jumps at Ndigbo here and there, throwing them into prisons without charge and killing some of them even when they are clearly non-violent in their rightful pursuit and determination for a state where they will be treated as fellow humans? The Movement for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB) is internationally recognized as non-violent; when the government discriminates in their response to non-violent MASSOB from that of violent Niger-Delta militants and Boko Haram, is that not clearly an affront to the UN and all it stands for? When the people of the North in Nigeria jumps on Ndigbo in the North because of or without any slightest provocation from Ndigbo, killing them in their numbers, burning their places of worship and houses, and carrying away their property and goods as war loots while the federal government does nothing but releases the culprits and arrests and detains, instead, the policemen involved in the arrests, isn;t than enough reason for any group, community, or tribe to be frightened in the midst of the people they live?

Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Question: If the Nigerian government is a signatory to the United Nation, it invariably means that most of Nigerian constitutions are accepted or under review by the international community; if that happens to be that case as indeed it is, then the Nigerian government is clearly violating the rights of movement, speech and pursuit. Why has the United Nations looked the other side when the Nigerian government flaunt their wickedness against Ndigbo? If people indeed have a right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law, would I be faulted if I said that it's time that UN came in to remedy the many injustice carried out against MASSOB and the entire Ndigbo by the government of Nigeria? Certainly not.

Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Question: Clearly, this violation of human rights against Ndigbo is perhaps more wicked than terrorist acts. The story of subjected arbitrary arrests, detentions or exiles is a common treatment against the Igbos of Nigeria. Now that hundreds of MASSOB members are in different prisons all over Nigeria, and many other Igbo youths, through many carefully crafted plans by the Nigerian government to achieve its vision of an extinct Igbo race-to achieve the very intent of other states against Israel, have been forced into exiles in different parts of the world, should the United Nations not call the Nigerian government to order and to call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) without further delay; should the UN not accept the fact that Nigeria is long overdue for a peaceful breakup after years of hot and cold war which have all been to the detriment of Ndigbo in a 'One Nigeria?'

Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Question: Every dot in this declaration is clearly bent on maintaining human rights to the highest level. MASSOB members were and still are arrested and detained (for those who managed to stay alive after the indiscriminate shooting from the Nigerian security operatives) without any public hearing. They are kept without any legal rights and against their wish; the UN knows this, why has it kept silent?

Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

Question: According to the Nigerian government, Chief Barrister Ralph Uwazuruike, along with other Igbo sons, were arrested in Enugu on the 24th of August, 2011, as they were going for/celebrating an award to Chief General Chukwuemeke Odumegwu-Ojukwu (retd) and charged with 'treasonable felony;' since these incessant arrests have become a terror act against, not only Ndigbo, but the entire humankind, should the UN not insist that their case be brought to the international court where all the guarantees necessary for their defence will be in place, and treated, once and for all and without further delay?

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Question: The Nigeria security personnel shoot at peaceful MASSOB members with live bullets and kill many amongst them every now and then even when it's clear that MASSOB does not threaten Nigeria in any way. Those that promised threats to the Nigerian government have been carrying them out and the federal government has been pleading with them while, at the same time, killing, arresting and detaining innocent Igbo people simply because they have refused to threaten any part of the country. With the big offices that UN has in Nigeria, why has it refused to defend the rights of MASSOB and that of Ndigbo; why has the UN not considered the action of the Nigerian government against MASSOB and Ndigbo in general a 'treasonable felony' since it directly undermines Nigeria's signatory to the UN?

Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Question: Before the war, many Igbos have property in different parts of Nigeria; but after the war, even when most of those property were still standing and valid, the Nigerian government refused every step the Igbo owners made towards reclaiming their property even after the said Nigerian genocide against Ndigbo was declared a 'No victor, no vanquished.' The Nigerian government, along with depriving Ndigbo of their many property in different parts of Nigeria outside of the South-East, still deny than it's been guilty against genocide all along. This is very clear; what has the United Nations done about this and why the continued silence?

Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Question: The United Nations had been before Nigeria became an independent state; this means that the United Nations can't possibly claim to be unaware of matters going on in places throughout the world. Non-violent MOSSOB members have assembled severely in their pursuit for a different state where everyone will be treated with mutual respect and equality; but, with each assembly, has often come a ruthless crackdown by the government of Nigeria. Not only has the government of Nigeria been carrying out this affront against the UN, it has often done it with bloodshed.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Question: Since the war ended, everyone knows that the Nigerian government has systematically denied Ndigbo of relevance in the Nigerian polity. For forty years and counting, no person of Igbo race has been allowed in the presidency, nor as Nigeria has proven, will ever be elected as a president. A call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) has been coming out from the great and simple alike in Nigeria, yet the federal government won't hear anything of it. Is the United Nations truly representing the people or is it just a global body set up to further the destruction of the minorities and the downtrodden by the great and mighty?

Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Questions: Clearly, everything the Nigerian government does deprives Ndigbo of the South-East of all these above-mentioned entitlements. Ndigbo have been and are still treated as second-class citizens in Nigeria, why has the United Nations kept quiet as these wickedness continue?

Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Question: The people of the South-East Nigeria have cried out for close to fifty years against injustice, and insisted on becoming independence; the government of Nigeria refuses and crushes, with every strong measure, the genuine desires of a people driven beyond the banks slavery. In accordance with this declaration, should not the UN rise up to defend these rights and these people deprived in Nigeria?

Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

Question: What wrong has the MOASSOB members in Igboland committed in carrying out the duty of seeking freedom from slavery and marginalization for their community away from the state called Nigeria?

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

Question: The reason that MASSOB adopted a non-violent approach in their quest is clearly in honor to this declaration, why then has the UN kept silent when the Nigerian government refuses to respect the same law and crashes, every now and then upon the MASSOB members and its leadership?

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Question: Like already said above, MASSOB follow due process, why is the UN silent even against the wickedness of the government of Nigeria and its unacceptable crackdown on men seeking peace and their human rights in the most peaceful way in a country where violence is the order of the day?

Having weighed in the balance of these UN declaration acts the reactions of the Nigerian government against MASSOB and what MASSOB stands for, I have come to an obvious conclusion and to make this recommendations:

1. That the United nations and the world powers prevail upon the Nigerian government to call for and hold a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) where every community would be made relevant towards the pursuit for any possible future as one truly functional country or as separate states

2. That it's high time the United Nations and the world powers, for peace in this geographical area called Nigeria and in Africa as a whole, stood up to the Nigerian government to demand, once and for all, the freedom of the South-Easterners, their rights to an independent and sovereign state of Biafra

3. That a complete release of all MASSOB members held in different prisons throughout the country be immediately demanded by the UN and effected.

4. I further ask that the United Nations, without undue delay, issue a statement which confirms that Ndigbo, the people of the Sout-East of Nigeria, and indeed, the people who have gone through years of masterminded cruelty and genocide from the Nigeria government, be given a clean bill to further their pursuit for a Sovereign State of Biafra.

5. Among these, I request that those in and out of the Nigerian government who have been accused of the genocide carried out against Ndigbo in the Nigeria-Biafra war be summoned to the Hague to defend their cases without further undue delay.