Uncategorized
Tinubu, Atiku: The paw in the presidency bottle!
“Have you ever heard how they catch monkeys in Brazil, Julie? Let me tell you. They put a nut in a bottle, and tie the bottle to a tree. The monkey grasps the nut, but the neck of the bottle is too narrow for the monkey to withdraw its paw and the nut. You would think the monkey would let go of the nut and escape, (as a predator is approaching) wouldn’t you?
“But it never does. It is so greedy it never releases the nut and is always captured. Remember that story, Julie. Greed is a dangerous thing. If you give way to it, sooner or later you will be caught.”
This was a book I read as a secondary school boy, many decades ago. It was one of the James Hadley Chase books. I hold this great author fully responsible for my poor WAEC result. It is entitled Paw in the bottle.
Its all about the opium of greed, how it captures the mind and soul of a victim to the extent that no matter the dangers lurking around, they never let go, but continue to clutch at certain nuts of life until destruction comes knocking.
Oh yes! Greed with is the nursery to selfishness, ingratitude, betrayal – the parents of crime, death, weeping, wailing and gnashing of the teeth. “HARD, RUTHLESS, AMORAL . . . that was Julie Holland,” Chase wrote, “- a good-time girl who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. And when the chance came to play a major role in a furs robbery she jumped at it. Luck smiled on her for even when everything went wrong with the plot and the gang-leader was arrested for a murder of which he was innocent, Julie still emerged from it from it with a fat bundle of cash a year and a Mayfair flat. But she was not satisfied yet – and the inevitable fate of the over-greedy awaited her. She went farther into crime until she was eventually consumed by it.”
Picture this! A man goes into public office, he steals N1billion – that is N100million into 10 places? Consider what N100million would do to a life and multiply it ten times. But the man is not satisfied and goes on to steal another and another to hundreds of billions. Yet he continues until either the law appears with handcuffs or nature comes with sickness or death.
See his brother. He acquires 50 houses in Lagos, 100 in Abuja, builds estates in Port Harcourt, buys castles in London, skyscrapers in US, penthouses in France, yet eyes the low-income houses for civil servants, throws his weights around, greases palms and acquires them also, all with stolen money.
Enter the criminal. He starts as a pickpocket, graduates into car-snatching, moves on to breaking banks and kidnapping for ransom, builds a financial war-chest in local and foreign currencies from his victims. He’s now far richer than his victims. But does he stop? No! Greed takes over – a debilitating disease it is. He goes on till either the Sheriff comes around with chains or the inevitable nemesis of all mortals – death.
Politics. No difference. Ask yourself! Why would an Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu struggle with a Yemi Osinbajo for the presidency in today’s Nigeria with the obvious gaps between them? Is it for love of the country or the gripping allure that keeps the monkey’s paw in the bottle despite imminent threat? Answer that and you’ll be coming close to my drift.
Since they say it is all about the All Progressives Congress (APC) retaining power, does it add up?Imagine an Osinbajo on the ballot today facing a Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). What is it that one could bring that the other could not counter? You saw the pair during the VP debate in 2019. Did you not see the quality of their engagement? Have you heard them speak? Compare it with Tinubu’s recruitment of 50 million men into the army delivery and the talk about the agbado and cassava examples. But no! Tinubu won’t relent.
Now, are your ears not deafened by the ricocheting soundbites and the ugly optics from this Lord of Bourdillon? Yesterday, it was a question of who he really is. Is he Amoda or Bola? Is he from Iragbiji in Osun or Lagos? Is he in his 70s or 80s? Even if the school confirms his studentship, with qualification did he enrol into the Chicago State University? Yes, he’s flaunting a First Class certificate, but which previous schools did he attend at early age to approach the doors of the institution in the first place? How did he get there?
Now the latest is doing the unthinkable of landing Nigerians with a Muslim-Muslim ticket in Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election. The reverberating echoes of that din are currently bursting eardrums far and wide. You’d think that he would sit back and listen. But, hell no! The smart alecs are at work. They tell him that’s what he needs to win.
Win? Well, don’t forget he’s the Jagaban, the quintessential master of political strategy that reminds everyone of the once upon a time Mr. Fix it. Still remember him? Win? At what cost? At the cost of the beautiful edifice the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is erecting with its magnificent colours sparkling across the land from Anambra, Ekiti and now Osun? That must be it. The boasting you hear of a certain political strategy prowess, can only be directed at destroying that edifice erected on the foundation of credible elections and nothing more. After all, they did it in 2019.
Pan to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where the Asiwaju of Lagos, has a soulmate in the Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar and also witness the paw in the bottle phenomenon. It is even worse here. While Tinubu’s would be the first attempt, even though my brother and friend Joe Igbokwe, one of the goons at Bourdillon, tells the world that the project is more than 30 years in the making, what we see presents the most demonstrable example of what we’re dealing with.
Even though he has attained the position of the second citizen, the former VP, given the records, has ostensibly sworn not to rest until he gets the number one position. So, off he goes for the record six times, five and most recent out of which he actually contested as a candidate and failed and the other, after stepping down in the first attempt.
Again, it is the same excuse – we want to win! For this, everything else is destroyed. First, you destroy the PDP zoning arrangement which you benefited from in the last exercise, when everyone else stayed away to allow you have it. Even while discussions were heated, you were first to buy the party ticket to contest the office, in a well choreographed, preemptive, but laughable mantra that you’ve already thrown your hat into the ring and it would amount to injustice to be asked by your party to withdraw.
Injustice? You want to deny a whole South East zone their turn to produce President and still talking about injustice to you because you’re told the truth that it’s not your turn. Ironically, today you want to climb on the back of the same people to get the position meant for them – picking an Igbo and thinking it would compensate – yet another deceitful, if not mishivious gambit. No be juju be that?
In the end, after using the party structure you obviously erected, you’ve finally landed the ticket. Now, what else? It’s time for the real dance to commence after dancing yourself lame like the antelope that jumped into the road and began gyrating ahead of the drumbeats.
Yes! What else? The engine of the vehicle is already on fire and the passengers are escaping from all available space. Those who are still riding with you in it, are probably too weak to get out or too overweight, having been eating too much for the windows to allow them and have now accepted their inevitable fate of either being consumed by the fire or some miracle happening to quench it, even if the engine has gone kaput.
Again, picture this! Since the PDP says its desire is to win the 2023 election to save Nigeria, what would the picture look like today, assuming Peter Obi, holds its ticket? With the momentum that he has gathered in the Labour Party (LP), where he has relocated, wouldn’t that desire be a mere walk in the park?
But, no! It is greed – the incubator of all that is wrong in human. It is about the fruit remaining in the monkey’s hand even if its paw is stuck in the bottle, even as the predator approaches. Is Nigeria not in danger of these men with their paws in the bottle. Must they be allowed to continue? Need anyone say more?
Posted by Sunny Igboanugo | 19 July 2022, 03:14pm |
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Tuesday, called out the Federal Government of attempting to destabilise the party following Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s defection, alleging pressure on Joash Ojo Amupitan, INEC Chairman, to interfere in its leadership.
Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, who made the allegation in a statement, detailed how a March 28 letter by some Senior Advocates, purportedly representing an expelled member of the party, is being used to push INEC to invalidate party actions and alter its structure before the court rules.
Stressing that part of the grand plan to destabilise the only viable opposition party left in the country was to use the electoral commission to cause havoc, over a matter that was in court, the party promised to resist it using all constitutional means,
The full statement reads:
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has observed a coordinated attempt to pressure the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), and destabilise the David Mark-led leadership of the party.
The decision of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to join our party has understandably sent jitters through the ruling party. Since then, top officials within the Federal Government have renewed their onslaught against our party, in a bid to discourage other high-profile figures.
This conspiracy is centred on a legal dispute that is now being pushed beyond the courtroom. In a letter dated March 28, 2026, a team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria is asking INEC to enforce a curious and peculiar interpretation of a Court of Appeal ruling regarding what constitutes “status quo ante bellum.”
In the said letter, the writers even went ahead to threaten the INEC chairman with arrest if he does not grant their request within seven days. They want INEC to invalidate party meetings, remove recognised officials, and hand over the affairs of the party to a specific individual, even though the case itself has not been fully decided by the courts. Obviously, what the authors of this vexatious letter are attempting to do is to pressure INEC to take sides and grant them what no court in Nigeria has granted.
For the avoidance of doubt, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is claiming to be aggrieved over the ADC leadership, was never the Chairman of the ADC. And, perhaps more significantly, Nafiu Gombe had earlier resigned his position alongside other members of the National Working Committee. He has also since been expelled from the party. Therefore, any attempt to recreate a “status quo” that upgrades his position to National Chairman of the ADC at any point in time is, at best, fictitious.
What we are witnessing is a convergence of legal pressure and political intent by a ruling party that is unsettled by the growing appeal of the ADC. But Nigerians can see what is happening.
No amount of pressure, no manufactured confusion, and no distortion of legal processes will stop what is already in motion. The ADC is growing. Nigerians are joining. A credible opposition is taking shape.
We call on INEC to remain guided by the Constitution, resist all forms of pressure, and uphold its duty as an impartial umpire.
This is bigger than the ADC. It is about whether Nigerians can freely choose a different path. And that must not be compromised.
In the early hours of Monday, January 26, 2026, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, stormed Onitsha Main Market, reputed to be the biggest enclave for trading and other commercial activities in West Africa, on what he called on-the-spot assessment.
It was a military-style display, reminiscent of the Muhammadu Buhari-Tunde Idiagbon, best-forgotten taskforce days, when soldiers, without warning swooped on markets, broke into their owner’s shops and practically sold available goods to the public at giveaway prices – many their cronies, in the guise of forcing their Essential Commodities policy.
In like manner there and then, the governor ordered the immediate closure of the market after accusing the traders of harbouring criminal intents and engaging in economic sabotage that costs the state a whopping N8billion in lost revenues. To boot, he even warned not only to close the market on a permanent basis, but if need be, even bulldoze it to the ground, should the traders remained recalcitrant in their decision.
Hear him: “Each Monday, we’ll come and inspect. If people are not in their respective shops, it will be shut down again. If you like I don’t mind shutting down this Main Market for the remainder of this year. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere and trade, but if you’re here, we’re not going to allow this plain economic sabotage. Also, we suspect whoever closes their shops to have some criminal intents.”
From the outset, we must state that what the world saw in that spontaneous encounter and subsequent days as the issues therein remained on the front burner, has little place in democracy, neither does it reflect sound, people-oriented leadership under the ethos of what has now been accepted across the globe as the best form of government.
Now, the last time we checked, Soludo is neither a military General nor even a soldier, but a highly-decorated academic, whose influence in the knowledge industry spans beyond education institutions, government – he was formally Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) – to international reckoning – consulting for some of the highest global bodies, including the United Nations.
Now, how does this selfsame global icon, reduce himself to a local dictator, dishing out orders as in regimental commands rather than employing that power of persuasion, which distinguishes brainpower – the emblematic factor of his training from raw strength of dictators in the gun business?
How does it fit? Do concepts like immediate effect and automatic alacrity form part of the recommendations Soludo makes to those global institutions he consulted for? Certainly no! So, why introduce them as his own governance template? That is the confusing, if not the disturbing part.
Is it not becoming clearer now? Is this military-style tendency not finding expression in the audacity captured in that ghoulish spectacle last year, where one Jennifer Elohor Edema, the young lady serving Nigeria under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, was stripped down to her birthday suit by some youths, visibly inebriated on influences of some brain-damaging substances, who were working for Soludo’s government?
By the way, when last did anyone hear anything about those criminals, outside the initial apparent crocodile tears at government places in Awka? Has anyone heard of any form of punishment? Have they been arraigned in court? If yes, what is the state of the trial?
In the instant case, we particularly detest the governor’s attempt to feign ignorance of the issues behind the conduct of the traders or his efforts to bury them under the veneer of righteous anger. To so do is deceitful, arrogant, if not self-serving – elements that seem to have, so unfortunately, formed part of the governance structure in Anambra State, as in most other states across the country, including the central government.
The issue here, if Soludo needs be reminded, is about the fate of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), currently serving life sentence at a facility in Sokoto, to where he was sent by Justice James Omotoso of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Of course, the governor was right in claiming that the dangerous security situation in the state has changed for the better and that Anambra is no longer the killing field it was until recently. Obviously, the blood-thirsty terrorists responsible for the carnages witnessed in the state, including those ostensibly aimed at enforcement of the sit at home orders, seem to be on holiday and from the look of things are no longer returning.
So, if the governor says security or insecurity of the traders is no longer the big issue, he has a foundation to so state. At least for the first time in recent years, Christmas was celebrated in the entire Igboland with the usual fanfare under the robust atmosphere devoid of fear. That alone gives credence to the extent of these changes.
But that is not the end of the story. Kanu’s fresh ordeal seems to have introduced a new chapter to the entire saga. Now, the current sit-at-home option appears no longer out of fear of being attacked or killed, but the willingness of the traders to donate every Monday, in solidarity with the IPOB leader. This was evident in the Tuesday demonstration, where the message of the traders who thronged the streets of Onitsha, was clearly delivered with renditions like – Nnamdi Kanu is another saviour.
Therefore, Soludo, must be a complete novice or pathologically naïve to claim he is not aware of this new sentiment. But he is neither of the two. There is no way the governor would not have been seized of the compelling emotions around him.
So, for him to put up that show on Monday, is nothing but a gambit tailored towards gaslighting the public. His feigned anger against the traders for not opening their shops is as manipulative as it is deceitful, just as argument thereto regarding the economy implications is as puerile as it is spurious.
It is demonstrative of lack of emotional intelligence, as it showcases the absence of the required synergy between the government and the people, a phenomenon that has become characteristic in the South East in recent years, where a huge gulf and trust deficit exist between the people and those who lead them.
It is indeed laughable when South East governors, including Soludo, lay claims to the current calm in Igboland, when on the contrary, many of them are accused of being collaborators, either as active agents of being complicit through their conspiracy of silence.
Who does not know that the late President Muhammadu Buhari, was the vector that transported that killer disease to Igboland? Dan Nwanyanwu, National Chairman of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), has remained relentless in establishing this fact most pungently in the past and even quite recently.
Soludo, in his chest-beating mode, gives the impression that he somehow sprung a genie out of the magic lamp to create a sudden miracle that turned the parlous security situation around. No! It was the death of Buhari that ended the blitzkrieg in the South East. Simplicita!
Where was this genie when during the Buhari days, when the Aguata Local Government headquarters, where he comes from was razed to the ground or when a swathe of Ihiala and adjoining areas in the state became a hunting ground for the rampaging terrorists, codenamed Unknown Gunmen.
He was only content in the open and shut attitude of dismissing the carnage they wrought as the handiwork of Kanu’s Eastern Security Network (ESN), even when the group swore on their father’s grave that they were not involved.
Indeed, if there is ever going to be anything good in the government of President Bola Tinubu, it is the fact that he is not as hungry for the blood of the Igbo man as Buhari, who never hid the fact of his desire to continue the civil war against Ndigbo, more than 50 years after.
Had Tinubu, who upped the ante in the marginalisation of Ndigbo in many ways, escalated this penchant by toeing the line as part of his continuation of the Buhari legacy, which he promised Nigerians, he might have renewed the military contract Asari Dokubo claimed to have with Buhari.
Yes, though he never revealed details of the so-called contract, its nature could be gleaned from the manner the people were dying wotowotowoto, as the Niger Delta warlord, himself gloated about some years back.
He even backed his gloating up in that viral video, with a display of an AK-47, boasting how he would use the weapon to cure Ndigbo their “madness.” Is it not surprising that in all his public comments, neither Soludo nor his South East colleagues ever mentioned this obvious threat to his people.
So, nobody is deceived by the governor acting like Idi Amin of Uganda, who went berserk because he could not get more money printed from his central bank. Nobody is moved by his threat to even bulldoze that market. He is only being clever by half, if not acting a script.
It does not remove the fact that he and his colleagues suddenly went mute, then and now and remained tongue-tied at a historic moment when Ndigbo are battling to extricate themselves from the soggy, foggy, belly of the whale, like the biblical Jonah, as they are in Nigeria today. It does not belittle the fact that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a metaphor for that horrible situation.
It is even worse that Soludo, arguably the most intellectually-gifted governor in Nigeria today, would be introducing some ethnic, sectional or indigene-based sentiments into the matter by trumpeting that those pursing the sit at home drive are not from Anambra. What a shame!
Who cares? Instead of such obtuse, infantile, if not asinine suggestion, would it not be more apposite for him to conduct a census in the entire Anambra, Aguata, his local government, Isuofia, his community and even the Soludo family to determine the number of Igbo people that are happy with the fate of not only Kanu, but Ndigbo in the hands of his friends in high authority today?
We hear that the traders have caved in. So, by Monday, expectedly, they would return to their shops – though definitely against their will. Soludo, would have scored another point and proven himself a strong man. But is it not a crab that makes itself king in shallow waters? Times shall tell!
John Chuma Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the November 8, Anambra State Governorship Election, on Monday, joined other faithful in the Catholic Church across the world to celebrate Valerian Maduka Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha and the Metropolitan, on the day the renowned cleric turned 72.
Nwosu, himself a staunch Catholic, former Seminarian and Assistant Secretary to Francis Cardinal Arinze, who was a one-time Archbishop of the same diocese, before moving to the Vatican, where he is now one of the top leaders in the church, declared that Okeke, remained not only a true servant, but an example of God’s voice on earth.
He wrote: “Today, I join the Catholic faithful across the globe and the entire Christian community in Nigeria to celebrate His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan, on the glorious occasion of his 72nd Birthday Celebration.
“Your Grace, you are a perfect example that God indeed manifests Himself in diverse ways. You represent a demonstrable illustration of selflessness, piety, humility and holiness and through you, God has once again shown that the tortuous way of the cross will eventually manifest in the triumph of humanity.
“Your life of devotion, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to the service of God and humanity stands as a shining example of true leadership — the kind that inspires us to build a more just, peaceful, and progressive society. You have been a moral compass to our people, guiding us towards values that uplift and unite.
“As we celebrate you today, I am reminded that the kind of selfless service you embody is exactly what our beloved Anambra needs — leadership rooted in compassion, faith, and integrity. It is this same spirit that fuels my commitment to serve our people under the great umbrella of African Democratic Congress (ADC). You are indeed a custodian of faith, a messenger of God, a gift to humanity.
“May God continue to bless and keep you, Your Grace, granting you long life, strength, and divine wisdom to shepherd His flock and to keep inspiring a generation of leaders determined to build a better future.
“Your life remains a light to Anambra and beyond. Congratulations once again. Happy birthday, Your Grace!
“With deepest respect and warm regards.”
John Chuma Nwosu (ADC Gubernatorial Candidate )
NCDMB, Seplat firm up plans for take-off of Centre of Excellence at DELSU
NLNG concludes 2026 VIBES Pitch-a-Thon, disburses ₦250m in business grants
Abike Dabiri: Did Obi raise a monster or you’re drunk on Tinubu’s poisoned chalice?
-
News3 weeks agoGovernor weeps, as terrorists kill soldiers, police in night ambush
-
Columns2 weeks agoSeun Okinbaloye saga: How does Tinubu survive if Wike resigns?
-
News7 days agoStop using Latin phrases, make clear, unambiguous orders – NBA tells courts
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Bloody day in Ibadan! *Trailer loses control, crushes residents!
-
News1 week agoNafiu Gombe: Yes, I have sponsors! *I can’t fight ADC big men alone!
-
Columns7 days agoCentus Nweze (JSC): Death of legal purist, irony of Nigerian judiciary
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: INEC can’t stop us – ADC *Vows to go ahead with congresses
-
News7 days agoArmy: Stop spreading fake news! *How General Braimah, three others died!